Dan Hooker vs Jalin Turner Lightweight Clash Set for UFC 285

A place in the top 10 of UFC Lightweight rankings will be at stake when #11-ranked Dan Hooker fights next at UFC 285 against #10-ranked Jalin Turner.

Dan Hooker revealed the fight against Turner on the Mac Life Podcast on March 4, 2023, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Hooker said,

“I think everyone knows me, I try to target the best guy. I try to target the highest person that you possibly can and that’s Jalin Turner. It’s a good fight, No. 11 versus 10. Get myself back in the Top 10, it’s exciting.”

Dan Hooker on his fight against Jalin Turner at UFC 285

Hooker turned around his two-fights losing streak at UFC 281 where he defeated Claudio Puelles on the main card via TKO in round 2. However, a string of losses is nothing new for Hooker.

After starting his UFC in the featherweight division with a 3-3 record, the New Zealand fighter came to the 155 lbs division and got some famous wins like Jim Miller, Gilbert Burns and Paul Felder. However, he has lost against the likes of Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Islam Makhachev since the start of 2020.

In a prior bout in 2022, Hooker went down back to featherweight to face Arnold Allen at UFC London in March, but once again faced a loss. The bout against Puelles saw him return to lightweight once again.

Jalin Turner’s start in UFC was also rough with 2 losses in his first 3 bouts in the promotion. A graduate of Dana White Contender Series 2018, Turner has been on a 5-fight winning streak since the start of 2020. He defeated Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 272 and Brad Riddell at UFC 276 in his two bouts in 2022.

UFC 285 event will see a new heavyweight champion being crowned as Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane clash in the headliner. Valentina Shevchenko will also return to defend the women’s flyweight title against Alexa Grasso.

Cameroon Saaiman vs Mana Martinez bout was also reported for the card earlier this week.