Dan Hooker says Dustin Poirier choked him out but the referee overlooked it: "Woke up with like, smelling the canvas"

Dan Hooker and Dustin Poirier had a war for the ages back in mid-2020. During the bout, Poirier had actually managed to briefly choke Hooker out with a guillotine, at least according to 'The Hangman' in a recent sitdown with FOX Sports Australia's mainevent.

The incident occurred in round three of their clash at UFC Vegas 4, where Hooker shot for a takedown. Poirier countered it by jumping the guillotine and apparently had the New Zealander unconscious for a fleeting second but hadn't realized it and subsequently relinquished the choke:

"Brother, a funny one. The Poirier fight, cause he had me in the guillotine. I might have been the first guy ever submitted in the guillotine [of Poirier], but he just didn't even realize I was out. So, I actually woke up. It was the third round, I shot for a takedown and he jumped the guillotine, and then he must have just run out of steam squeezing, cause I woke up and I was like, 'Oh, the fight's still going.'"

It's a stunning revelation about the Hooker vs. Poirier bout, especially given how often 'The Diamond' has jumped the guillotine throughout his career, yet has never submitted anyone with the move.

Besides Hooker, the only other fighter who seemed to be in potential trouble from a Poirier guillotine was Khabib Nurmagomedov:

"I was like, 'This is cool.' So, he did finish the guillotine, just no one realized. I woke up with like, smelling the canvas."

Check out Dan Hooker talk about his fight with Dustin Poirier (3:10):

Ultimately, the pair's fight went all five rounds, with Poirier winning via unanimous decision in what was the event's Fight of the Night.

---

Dan Hooker was recently linked to another submission threat

UFC 305 is in need of fights besides the headliner between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya. The event is held in Perth, Australia.

Naturally, when rumors about Dan Hooker, a New Zealander, being linked to a fight with former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, fans were excited.

While 'The Hangman' expressed interest in the bout, 'do Bronx' took to X/Twitter to claim that he was unaware of the fight. To make matters worse, recent supports have featured Hooker claiming to have fabricated the matchup.