Dan Hooker eyes Nasrat Haqparast before their fight at UFC 266.
Dan Hooker eyes Nasrat Haqparast before their fight at UFC 266. | Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images

Earlier this month, the former UFC lightweight champion announced that he was out of his upcoming PPV fight against Islam Makhachev due to injury, but it looks like the promotion has found a top shelf replacement.

The UFC's upcoming Abu Dhabi PPV card suffered a big blow recently with the loss of a top-shelf lightweight bout between former champion Rafael dos Anjos, and rising contender Islam Makhachev. The bout seemed like a big step for the longtime training partner of Khabib Nurmagomedov, on his path to a potential title shot.

Fortunately for the Dagestani fighter, it looks like he's still got a top tier fight in front of him. ESPN's Brett Okamoto reports that top-ranked City Kickboxing standout Dan Hooker has agreed to step in and take RDA's place for the October 30th bout.

Hooker will come into this fight fresh off a 3 round decision victory over Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266. The fight was notable for both Hooker & Haqparast's trouble getting travel visas to fight in the US. No word yet on whether or not Hooker intends to return to New Zealand between now and his next fight, but hopefully the process of getting a Visa to compete in the UAE will be a smoother process.

For Makhachev, this bout comes on the back of an 8-bout winning streak—capped by a submission victory over Thiago Moises back in July.

UFC 267 is set to be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira. A top contender's bout between Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir is also set for the card.