Dan Hooker isn’t walking back his claims from earlier this year.
New Zealand’s “Hangman” caused quite a stir this past Feb. 2023 when accusing Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, of using intravenous therapy (an IV). Hooker’s claims followed Makhachev’s unanimous decision win over Hooker’s City Kickboxing teammate, UFC Featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, and led to a response from United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Having had several months to look back on things, Hooker believes there are just too many uncertainties surrounding the topic.
“100 percent it was Islam Makhachev that took the I.V.,” Hooker told The MMA Hour. “That’s my opinion. I feel like it might have potentially been a genuine misunderstanding of the rules. We saw from my outburst, USADA’s clarification then the backlash, there’s still a lot of misunderstanding about the actual rule. I couldn’t even tell ya the actual rule. USADA’s like absolutely fine with it if you get a nurse to do it but then most commissions — it comes down to the local commission. It’s obviously not allowed in Australia but who knows?
“If you get the commission’s approval, how many commissions are approving I.V. usage?” he concluded. “I feel like there’s still no real clarification around the topic but yeah.”
No repercussions came of the accusations for either Hooker or Makhachev and no incidents have surfaced at non-Australian events since. The promotion will, however, be returning to the country in Sept. 2023 for UFC 293.
Before that, Hooker gets back in action against Jalin Turner at UFC 290 this weekend (Sat., July 8, 2023). Volkanovski will also be in action as he headlines the card against interim Featherweight titleholder, Yair Rodriguez. In the end, Hooker doesn’t necessarily think Makhachev was trying to cheat the system.
“Now, in hindsight, do I believe it was truly a malicious cheating thing? I think it might have been a misunderstanding of the actual ruling because it’s quite unclear,” Hooker said. “If USADA said something’s alright, most people just think that that’s alright then.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 290 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+/ABC at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 290: “Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.