Only a few days ago, Dan “The Hangman” Hooker had no idea if he was going to fight at UFC 266. With Australia and New Zealand, Hooker’s home country, under strict COVID-19 lockdowns, it looked as if Hooker wouldn’t be getting to Vegas to fight this weekend.
On The MMA Hour, Hooker detailed the experience and how a Hail Mary request to the New Zealand government secured his place in the Octagon. “I’ll be there. That’s all in the clear.
Dan Hooker Thanks Twitter for Last Minute Visa, Confirms UFC 266 Attendance
The visa was the only thing stopping me. Last Friday here in New Zealand, my flight was Sunday, and the consulate got in touch with me and said, ‘We’re not gonna be able to process the visa until the end of [next] week.’
I had done so much work to get to this point, so I went to social media. I went to MMA Twitter, I was on the 6:00 news here in New Zealand on a few different stations, everyone getting behind me and just bombarding the consulate. Everyone was submitting like, ‘Get Dan Hooker his visa, full applications.’
So with everyone’s help, out of the blue, they said, ‘We’ll give you an appointment Monday midday. I got down there. I got it done. As far as I’m concerned, this fight’s [a go] and I’ll be out of here on Thursday.”
Hooker took to Twitter to appeal to the US Ambassador to New Zealand, Kevin Covert, in speeding up his visa application.
Hooker expressed serious gratitude to the MMA community for rallying behind him. “If I didn’t put the pressure on them, [this wouldn’t have happened].
No one will publicly come out and say, ‘If you just bombard us on social media and absolutely harass us on the 6:00 news, your visa will be processed a lot faster.’ For it to come out of the blue like that, and as far as I know, this was the only appointment they’ve given for the last five or six weeks.”
Despite this adversity, Hooker remains focused on his main priority, a return to winning ways following two consecutive defeats.
“In terms of everything, that’s the easy part. Getting the visa, the flights, that’s the easy part getting to the fight. You still have to focus on the main thing, which is getting in there with one of the best fighters in the world and competing.”
Dan Hooker will surely be more determined than ever to win at UFC 266. Should Nasrat Haqparast be worried? Let us know in the comments.
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