UFC lightweight Dan Hooker has voiced his frustration with the promotion after his tickets to watch teammate Kai Kara-France compete were revoked following his absence from an early morning promotional obligation.
The New Zealand contender revealed on Submission Radio that the UFC scheduled him for a promotional event during fight week in June. This required him to wake up at 7:30 AM Eastern time, which translated to 3:00 AM in his home country.
“I didn’t even go out. I had an early night, but I’m not getting out of bed at three in the morning to do just about anything,” Hooker explained. “I slept in, and I didn’t go to the UFC thing. They canceled my tickets to Kai’s fight.”
The incident occurred when Hooker traveled to Las Vegas to support Kara-France’s flyweight title challenge against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 317. After missing the promotional commitment, the UFC revoked his tickets to attend the event, leaving Hooker feeling disrespected by the organization he has represented since 2014.
“I’m going to rush back and fight injured for a company that’s going to cancel my tickets to the event when I’ve traveled all the way to Las Vegas,” Hooker said. “You work in the office, brother, I work in the—you think there would be a bit more respect there for guys who literally give their life.”
The ticket cancellation has influenced Hooker’s approach to future bookings. Despite being interested in competing on the UFC’s upcoming Perth card on September 28, he has decided against rushing back from hand surgery he underwent in March. Instead, he’s targeting a New York pay-per-view card, typically scheduled for November.
“The amount of blood, sweat, and tears I’ve poured into putting shows on for that company, I thought there would have been a bit more respect there,” Hooker stated. “But there’s not, which is cool, business is business. We can fight on my terms, then. I’m not going to break my back for a company that doesn’t respect me.”
For his next bout, Hooker has his sights set on top contender Arman Tsarukyan in what could serve as a title eliminator for the lightweight championship currently held by Ilia Topuria. However, Hooker made it clear that any five-round contest would need to come with appropriate compensation.
“Twenty grand for an extra ten minutes is the going rate,” Hooker said. “I’m a logical thinker. In what world do I get a half a million dollars for 15 minutes and then I get half a million dollars and 20 grand for half an hour?”
He drew parallels to traditional employment, questioning why someone would work twice as long for only marginally more pay. “When I used to work at the bloody kitchen factory, do you think I did an eight-hour day and got paid a couple of hundreds bucks and then I’m going to do twice as much work and get a fraction more money,” he reasoned.
Despite his grievances, Hooker acknowledged the UFC’s business approach, particularly in managing title contention scenarios.
“The UFC is smart as f*ck,” Hooker observed. “They never paint themselves into a situation where there’s a clear No. 1 contender that has to fight for the belt next, because if they’re ever in that situation, then negotiations obviously become very difficult for them.”
He explained how having multiple potential title challengers—mentioning Justin Gaethje, Arman Tsarukyan, and even Paddy Pimblett—gives the UFC leverage in negotiations. “At the end of the day it’s business and the fight that makes the most dollars makes the most sense for the UFC,” Hooker concluded. He praised the promotion’s ability to maintain multiple viable championship challengers simultaneously.
