Dan Hooker is headed back to lightweight in hopes of getting back on track against a rising UFC prospect.
The UFC veteran has booked his return to the division against Claudio Puelles on Nov. 12 at UFC 281 on Nov. 12 in New York.
The news was first reported by FordewinMMA and later confirmed by UFC broadcast partner ESPN on Tuesday.
Hooker (21-12 MMA, 11-8 UFC) is coming off a quick TKO loss to Arnold Allen this past March. The bout marked his return to featherweight after six years. Hooker, 32, is 1-4 in his past five trips to the octagon. His lone win during that stretch came against Nasrat Haqparast in a unanimous decision in September 2021.
Meanwhile, Puelles (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is looking to continue to build momentum in the UFC. The Peruvian fighter is on a five-fight winning streak, which includes three kneebar finishes. Puelles last fought in April and submitted veteran Clay Guida to win a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
With the addition, the UFC 281 lineup includes:
- Champion Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira – for middleweight title
- Champion Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili – for women’s strawweight title
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Molly McCann
- Dominick Reyes vs. Ryan Spann
- Seungwoo Choi vs. Mike Trizano
- Silvana Gomez Juarez vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
- Renato Moicano vs. Brad Riddell
- Ottman Azaitar vs. Matt Frevola
- Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
