Dan Hooker

Hooker has one daughter, Zoe, who has appeared alongside him in UFC Embedded vlogs and social-media posts. He has continued to live and train out of Auckland, New Zealand, after announcing plans in 2021 to relocate to the United States because of difficulties involving New Zealand's lockdown measures and travel-work-visa requirements.

Hooker opened Combat Academy, a gym in Ellerslie, Auckland, in 2018. The facility included a full-sized boxing ring and an octagon, but he later closed it to focus on his MMA career.

Hooker began training for fighting after watching a friend knock someone down and seeing the crowd's reaction. Before becoming a full-time professional fighter, he worked as a doorman in Auckland's central business district. He made his professional MMA debut in March 2009 and built a 10-4 record in New Zealand before joining the UFC.

Alongside MMA, Hooker developed a professional kickboxing career with a recorded 9-1-3 record. He won the King in the Ring Middleweight Kickboxing Championship and the WKBF X-Rules Welterweight Championship. In MMA, he won the Supremacy Fighting Championships New Zealand Lightweight Championship and the Australian Fighting Championship Lightweight Championship, defending the latter twice.

Hooker has coached MMA since 2008 and has worked with City Kickboxing in Auckland. His training has included striking, wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and he received a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in October 2025.

Hooker made his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 43 in June 2014, stopping Ian Entwistle by first-round TKO. In 2015, he knocked out Hatsu Hioki with a head kick and punches, becoming the first fighter to stop Hioki by knockout in an MMA bout. The victory earned Hooker his first UFC Performance of the Night bonus.

After moving from featherweight to lightweight in 2017, Hooker stopped Ross Pearson with a second-round knee at UFC Fight Night 110 and submitted Marc Diakiese by guillotine choke at UFC 219. He then recorded first-round knockout victories over Jim Miller and Gilbert Burns in 2018, followed by a first-round knockout of James Vick in 2019. The Pearson and Vick victories also brought Performance of the Night bonuses.

Hooker's five-round fight with Paul Felder in Auckland in February 2020 ended in a split-decision win and received Fight of the Night recognition. He later lost a unanimous decision to Dustin Poirier in another five-round bout that was widely regarded as one of the year's outstanding fights. Hooker also received Fight of the Night awards for the Poirier and Mateusz Gamrot bouts.

Following losses to Michael Chandler, Islam Makhachev and Arnold Allen, Hooker returned to lightweight and stopped Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 in November 2022. He then defeated Jalin Turner and Mateusz Gamrot by split decision at UFC 290 and UFC 305 respectively. He lost to Arman Tsarukyan by submission in November 2025 and to Benoît Saint Denis by second-round TKO at UFC 325 in January 2026. Hooker is scheduled to face Salahdine Parnasse at UFC Fight Night 287 on September 5, 2026.

Hooker has a professional MMA record of 24 wins and 14 losses. His wins include 11 by knockout, seven by submission and six by decision, while the UFC credits him with 12 first-round finishes.

He is known for a striking-oriented approach and has competed across divisions ranging from heavyweight to featherweight. His nickname, "The Hangman," reflects his preference for finishing fights with chokes. His notable UFC victories include stoppages of Hatsu Hioki, Ross Pearson, Jim Miller, Gilbert Burns, James Vick and Claudio Puelles.