“Yesterday was sparring, I blocked a leg kick and then I had an X-ray and it turned out my arm was broken in the same place,” the New Zealander told Submission Radio. “I took my chances. Obviously it was too early to come back, so I’ve only got myself to blame. I wanted to fight, I knew I was taking a risk, I rolled the dice and I was unlucky.”
According to Hooker, he expects to recover and compete in the UFC 300 anniversary event, which is scheduled for next April.
“Now I’ll recover properly and come back. UFC 300 is in five months, and that’s a good goal. Everything happens for a reason – so I wasn’t meant to fight in December. Now I’ll have three months to rehab comfortably and then I’ll start training camp.”
UFC on ESPN 52 will take place on December 2 in Austin, Texas, and its main event will be a lightweight bout between American Benil Dariush and Russian Arman Tsarukyan.