UFC breaks internet by tweeting and deleting Dan Hooker's replacement against Justin Gaethje at UFC 313, Dana White confirms shortly afterward

The UFC recently sent fans into a frenzy after a quick post-and-delete on social media revealing Justin Gaethje's new opponent for UFC 313 after Dan Hooker's withdrawal. Dana White notably confirmed the news shortly afterward.

While Hooker was booked to fight Gaethje in a highly anticipated lightweight matchup at UFC 313 in March at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, a hand injury forced him to withdraw from the bout. After Gaethje confirmed that he would still fight on the card, many began speculating possible opponents for him.

In a recent X post that was quickly deleted, the UFC's Australian handle shared a graphic confirming Rafael Fiziev as the fighter replacing Hooker against Gaethje. After @mma_orbit shared a screenshot of the now-deleted post, fans flocked to the comments section to express their reaction.

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz shared a message about Gaethje and wrote:

"A lot of people say they are about, but they are not. @Justin_Gaethje is one of one he will never be imitated or duplicated. Let’s go."

A fan wrote:

"It was probably supposed to be saved for the IG Live."

Check out some more reactions below:

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While fans debated the new matchup, White put all speculations to rest and confirmed that Fiziev and Gaethje will rematch at UFC 313 in a video posted to social media. 'The Highlight' previously beat Fiziev via majority decision at UFC 286 in March 2023.

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Dan Hooker explains hand injury that forced him out of Justin Gaethje fight at UFC 313

Dan Hooker recently opened up about his exit from the UFC 313 card and revealed the cause of his hand injury. Hooker suffered a fracture during training after catching one of his sparring partners on the head with his knuckles.

In an interview with Sky Sports New Zealand, Hooker explained how he got hurt and said:

''One of the paws is not doing too well. I was sparring last night, as I do, just letting some hooks go, just throwing some bombs down range, and I just caught one of the boys on the top of the dome with my knuckle. I don’t think too much of it but they sent me off to get a CT scan. Had a little CT scan and they told me my hand is fractured.''