Edson Barboza Destroys Dan Hooker With Vicious Striking Clinic
Lightweight knockout artists Edson Barboza and Dan Hooker clashed in a 155-pound bout sure to produce fireworks in the co-main event of tonight’s (Sat., December 15, 2018) UFC on FOX 31 from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Hooker came into the biggest bout of his career on an insane win streak. He had finished his last four opponents. That included two with vicious knees and two in the first round. ‘The Hangman’ most recently knocked out Gilert Burns at UFC 226.
Barboza’s career trajectory had been the opposite as of late. ”Junior’ lost his last two fights in brutal, one-sided fights to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kevin Lee. He fought two of the best fighters – and two of the best wrestlers – in the world but was dominated nonetheless.
Barboza badly needed to secure a victory to regain any sort of momentum. He got just that in Wisconsin.
Round One:
Barboza came out with one of his feared kicks. Hooker fired back with two low kicks of his own. They traded kicks and Hooker landed sone to the body. It became a kicking contest until Barboza landed a short combination upstairs. Hooked pressed that action yet ate two shots. Hooker landed a straight left and Barboza landed two hooks. He followed with a body kick.
More low kicks came from Barboza and a straight from Hooker. Barboza landed various strikes and an inside low kick. Hooker landed a jab and Barboza pressed forward a huge low kick. Hooker’s jab landed again. Barboza rocked Hooker with a hard right. Hooker landed a strong right of his own. Barboza unloaded with a big combo. He closed the round with two more big low kicks.
Round Two:
Barboza came out smoking to start the second. Another pair of low kicks hurt Hooker. Barboza winged more hooks and knees to the body from the clinch. Hooker got aggressive and smothered Barboza. He looked for his knee. They traded punches and Barboza scored with a knee. Hooker scored with an elbow. Barboza threw a wild strike and Hooker got a takedown to land on top.
The action slowed with Hooker landing shots from the top. The crowd booed until Barboza got back up. He landed some big body shots and a switch kick. He followed with his jab and a huge left. Hooker was hurt. He missed with his spinning wheel kick and landed a body shot. Barboza tripped Hooker to the ground. He scored more jabs when he got back up. An uppercut followed and he went back to the body with a punch and kick. Striking clinic from him. He wobbled Hooker with a huge right. An insane round ended with more strikes from Barboza.
Round Three:
The doctors cleared Hooker to fight in between rounds. Hooker pushed the pace despite the damage he’d taken. He looked for a single leg and pushed the fight to the fence. Barboza broke free and badly injured Hooker with a body kick. He unloaded and Hooker somehow threw a shot. Barboza threw the wheel kick and missed again. Barboza threw a vicious spinning back kick to the body. Another body kick came. Knees from Barboza. Commentator Daniel Cormier yelled for the fight to be stopped.
Barboza finally threw a monstrous body shot and dropped Hooker for good. Brutal striking performance from Barboza on an opponent who was too tough for his own good.
Final Result: Edson Barboza def. Dan Hooker via R3 KO (strikes, 2:19)
