One of the narratives bubbling under the surface of this weekend’s UFC 266 clash between lightweights Dan Hooker and Nasrat Haqparast has been whether or not the fight will proceed unimpeded after both fighters experienced visa difficulties in flying out to Las Vegas.
Hooker is due to arrive in Las Vegas on Thursday and have just 12 hours in which to make weight after visa processing issues in his native New Zealand were complicated by delays related to the reinstitution of a Covid-19 lockdown.
German fighter (and Kelvin Gastelum doppleganger) Haqparast has also experienced difficulties of his own in getting into the United States, with the fighter posting an impassioned plea on Social media Tuesday in a bid to expedite the process.
And as far as Dana White is concerned, all that can be done is being done.
Dana White says the UFC are still hoping to pull Dan Hooker vs. Nasrat Haqparast off, despite the complications both men have had with their visas. pic.twitter.com/mnegQdxZ3j
— The Mac Life (@TheMacLife) September 22, 2021
“We’re working on it,” White told the media in Las Vegas Tuesday. “We should be able to get this done. I’m hoping we can. You guys have no idea how much sh*t we deal with with visa and stuff, and we’ve got a really good team that saves our ass on a lot of shows. So we should be able to get this done. I’m confident we can.”
The clock, though, is very much ticking and it will remain to be seen if all the hurdles can be passed for the fight to proceed as planned.
