Jalin Turner to Replace Dan Hooker in 3-Rounder Against Bobby Green at UFC Austin

Some Thanksgiving fight announcements. Happy Thanksgiving everybody! pic.twitter.com/wNDkaxQ0nB

— danawhite (@danawhite) November 23, 2023

Jalin Turner will be stepping in for the man who last beat him in a bit over a week.

At UFC 290 in July, Turner (13-7) fell short in a thrilling nailbiter by split decision to Hooker. The Kiwi, who was scheduled to take on Bobby Green (31-14-1, 1 NC) at UFC Austin, has since injured his arm and has withdrawn from the Green pairing. The damage was inflicted to the same arm that Hooker hurt in his fight with Turner. Now, Turner will be taking on Green on Dec. 2 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, according to the promotion on Thursday.

Making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in 2018 unsuccessfully against Vicente Luque, the 6-foot-3 Turner dropped down to lightweight and has competed in that weight class for the majority of his subsequent matches. “The Tarantula” is currently skidding, having dropped two split decisions to the aforementioned Turner and Mateusz Gamrot in 2023. That loss to Gamrot put an end to a five-fight finish streak for the California native, which saw him stop names including Brad Riddell and Jamie Mullarkey as he worked his way up the lightweight ladder.

Company staple Green has rattled off two straight stoppage wins since July, putting Tony Ferguson to sleep with an arm-triangle choke at UFC 291 and coming out blazing against Grant Dawson in a 33-second knockout victory. At the tender age of 37, Green was attempting to engage in a rare five-round non-title non-headlining match, but the change of opponent has shifted it to a three-round affair. Green may be just a few wins over .500 in the UFC as a longtime vet, but he has beaten names like Al Iaquinta, Nasrat Haqparast, Clay Guida and James Krause over the years.

UFC Austin, also known as UFC on ESPN 52, goes down in Austin, Texas, inside of the Moody Center on Dec. 2. The main attraction will see Beneil Dariush tackle fellow grappler Arman Tsarukyan in a pivotal lightweight affair. The co-main event will be Turner vs. Green, despite the opponent change. Other fights high on the billing include a bantamweight bash between Rob Font and Deiveson Figueiredo, and a welterweight clash when Sean Brady meets Kelvin Gastelum.