News surfaced recently of some exciting announcements for the upcoming Thanksgiving fights. Happy Thanksgiving everybody! In an unexpected turn of events, Jalin Turner will be stepping in for Dan Hooker, the fighter who last beat him just over a week ago. At UFC 290 in July, Turner lost a thrilling nailbiter of a match against Hooker with a split decision. However, Hooker, who was scheduled for a bout against Bobby Green at UFC Austin, has since injured his arm – the same one which he hurt during his fight against Turner.
The injury has resulted in Hooker withdrawing from the scheduled fight against Green. Consequently, Turner has now been tapped to take on Green on December 2 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. This update came from an announcement by the UFC promotion on Thursday. Turner, who made his UFC debut in 2018 in a match against Vicente Luque, has mainly fought in the lightweight class since then. Despite his rough start, losing to Luque, Turner won many of his subsequent matches, earning him the nickname “The Tarantula.”
Sadly, Turner’s winning streak came to an end when he suffered two split decision losses in 2023, one of them against Mateusz Gamrot. These losses marked the end of a five-fight winning streak for the California native, who had previously beat fighters like Brad Riddell and Jamie Mullarkey. On the other hand, Bobby Green, an experienced fighter and a fixture in the company, has managed two straight stoppage wins since July.
UFC Austin, alternatively known as UFC on ESPN 52, will be held at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas on December 2. The main event of the evening will be a match between Beneil Dariush and Arman Tsarukyan, two grappling artists in a pivotal lightweight encounter. Despite the recent changes, the co-main event will feature Turner versus Green. Other highlights will include a bantamweight match between Rob Font and Deiveson Figueiredo, and a welterweight clash between Sean Brady and Kelvin Gastelum.