Dan Hooker is officially heading back to featherweight to face one of the division’s top prospects.
The promotion announced on Monday that Hooker’s return to 145 pounds will be against Arnold Allen at UFC London. The event takes place March 19 at the O2 Arena and will be the first UFC event in the U.K. since March 2019.
Hooker is dropping back down for the first time since a December 2016 decision loss to Jason Knight. “The Hangman,” ranked No. 10 at 155 in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, compiled an 8-4 record in the UFC’s lightweight division, but had suffered defeats in three of four bouts to Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler and, most recently, Islam Makhachev at UFC 267.
Allen enters the bout an a 10-fight winning streak, including an 8-0 start to his octagon tenure. The No. 11 ranked featherweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings returns to action for the first time since defeating Sodiq Yusuff at UFC Vegas 23 this past April.
The UFC’s return to London will be headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall.
