David Larsen 
@adminUFC 266 card has got an amazing lightweight matchup between Dan Hooker and Nasrat Haqparast. The duo will be facing each other on the UFC 266 card which will take place on September 25, 2021, at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
The card will be headlined by the featherweight title fight. The champion Alexander Volkanovski will be defending his title against the no.2 ranked Brian Ortega. Both of them were also the head coaches during The Return of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Volkanovski vs. Team Ortega. The co-main vent of the card will feature the women’s flyweight title fight. The UFC’s women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will face former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Lauren Murphy.
The card will also be hosting the return of the iconic Nick Diaz. Nick will return to the octagon after 6 years and face the former welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler. The duo will be rematching as they previously fought 17 years ago at UFC 47. In that fight, Nick Diaz knocked out Robbie Lawler in the very first round.
Dan Hooker Looking For A Win
Dan Hooker entered UFC as one of the hottest UFC prospects. His journey started at the featherweight and then decided to move up to the lightweight division. He then went on an unbeaten 4 fight win streak and then faced a hard-fought loss to Edson Barboza. Dan then still went again to stack up to three back-to-back wins. Hooker then fought Dustin Poirier and the duo put on a show as they banged it up for five rounds. Dustin Poirier was awarded the win as he picked up the pace in the last three rounds of the fight.
Hooker faced former three-time Bellator MMA lightweight champion and UFC newcomer Michael Chandler at UFC 257 on January 24, 2021. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round. After the fight, Hooker placed his gloves in the middle of the octagon and signaled that he might retire from the UFC. However, he then clarified that after reconsideration, he would not retire from the sport.
Nasrat made his UFC debut on October 21, 2017, against Marcin Held, replacing injured Teemu Packalen at UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Till. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Haqparast will be entering UFC 266 while riding a two-fight winning streak, which includes victories over Alexander Munoz and Rafa Garcia. This fight will be a huge opportunity for him to fight against a top contender. A win over Hooker will put him right in the top 10 spots of the division.
UFC 266 Card:
- Champion Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega – for the UFC Featherweight Championship
- Champion Valentina Shevchenko vs. Lauren Murphy – for the women’s UFC Flyweight Championship
- Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler – five-round welterweight fight
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Jessica Andrade vs. Cynthia Calvillo
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Marlon Moraes
- Nasrat Haqparast vs. Dan Hooker
- Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Manon Fiorot
- Uros Medic vs. Jalin Turner
- Nick Maximov vs. Karl Roberson
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Chris Daukaus
- Martin Sano Jr. vs. Matthew Semelsberger
