This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Dan Hooker Celebrates No. 30

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Dan Hooker enjoyed a stealthy rise on the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight ladder and now finds himself knocking on the door as a dark horse contender at 155 pounds. “The Hangman” celebrates his 30th birthday on Feb. 13.

Nine days later, Hooker will collide with former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Paul Felder in the UFC Fight Night 168 main event at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. A winner in six of his past seven bouts, the City Kickboxing star last appeared at UFC 243, where he took a unanimous decision from “The Ultimate Fighter 15” finalist Al Iaquinta on Oct. 6 and improved to 9-4 inside the Octagon. Dynamic offense remains Hooker’s calling card, as evidenced by the fact that he has delivered 17 of his 19 professional victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. His list of victims includes James Vick, Gilbert Burns, Marc Diakiese, Ross Pearson and Hatsu Hioki.

Others in MMA celebrating birthdays during the month of February:

FEB. 1

Bill Mahood, 53
Igor Pokrajac, 41
Sam Sicilia, 34
Ronda Rousey, 33
Jared Papazian, 32

FEB. 2

Hector Lombard, 42
Denis Stojnic, 40
Yusuke Kawanago, 37
Herbert Burns, 32
Eric Shelton, 29

FEB. 3

Doug Marshall, 43
Rodrigo Damm, 40
Ricardo Tirloni, 37
Phillipe Nover, 36
Eduardo Dantas, 31

FEB. 4

Andrei Arlovski, 41
Igor Gracie, 40
Satoru Kitaoka, 40
Luiz Cane, 39
Yaotzin Meza, 39

FEB. 5

Antoni Hardonk, 44
Lyle Beerbohm, 41
Johnny Cisneros, 40
Leonardo Santos, 40
Bubba Jenkins, 32
Joaquim Silva, 31

FEB. 6

Waachiim Spiritwolf, 44
Vik Grujic, 43
Shinichi Kojima, 41
Mamoru Nakamura, 39
Andrew Holbrook, 34
Ryan Hollis, 31
Khalil Rountree, 30

FEB. 7

Haruo Ochi, 36
Derrick Lewis, 35
T.J. Dillashaw, 34
Lance Palmer, 32
Cesar Avila, 31
Jae Hyun So, 31
Ray Cooper III, 27

FEB. 8

Kevin Ferguson, 1974-2016
Yuki Ishikawa, 53
Jaime Jara, 51
Chan Rothana, 34
Syuri Kondo, 31
Pawel Pawlak, 31

FEB. 9

Chris Clements, 44
Mark Munoz, 42
Charlie Brenneman, 39
Jake Rosholt, 38
Jake Hecht, 36
Henry Cejudo, 33
Felipe Arantes, 32

FEB. 10

Masakazu Imanari, 44
Matt Horwich, 42
Nick Ring, 41
Mariusz Radziszewski, 36
Islam Mamedov, 30

FEB. 11

Evan Tanner, 1971-2008
Ken Shamrock, 56
Ali Mokdad, 37
Stephen Thompson, 37
Vagab Vagabov, 34
Andrea Lee, 31
Bec Rawlings, 31
Megan Anderson, 30
Nainoa Dung, 21

FEB. 12

Jon Madsen, 40
Tony Ferguson, 36
Joey Miolla, 35
Luke Jumeau, 32
Stefan Sekulic, 28

FEB. 13

Elvis Sinosic, 49
Dean Lister, 44
Anthony Lapsley, 40
Ewerton Teixeira, 38
Dan Hooker, 30

FEB. 14

Kenny Robertson, 36
Micah Miller, 33
Chris Mierzwiak, 32
Jayson Jones, 31
Montana De La Rosa, 25

FEB. 15

Ray Sefo, 49
Brian Rogers, 36
Cezar Ferreira, 35
Steven Siler, 33
Ciro Rodrigues, 31
Emiliano Sordi, 29

FEB. 16

Carina Damm, 41
Zelg Galesic, 41
Mark Eddiva, 34
Vladimir Mineev, 30
Mirsad Bektic, 29

FEB. 17

Brett Rogers, 39
Will Ribeiro, 37
Yoshitaka Naito, 36
Carrington Banks, 31
Anatoly Tokov, 30

FEB. 18

Jimi Manuwa, 40
Marvin Blumer, 38
Melvin Blumer, 38
Joseph Duffy, 32
Fabiano Silva da Conceicao, 32
Stefan Struve, 32
Curtis Blaydes, 29

FEB. 19

Duke Roufus, 50
Chad Leonhardt, 40
Ben Alloway, 39
Liz Carmouche, 36
Ednaldo Oliveira, 36
Nam Jin Jo, 29

FEB. 20

Antonio Inoki, 77
Phillip Miller, 41
Rousimar Palhares, 40
Tim Means, 36
Derek Anderson, 30
Damian Stasiak, 30
Natan Schulte, 28

FEB. 21

Chris Kelades, 39
Paul Daley, 37
Alex Oliveira, 32
Roman Salazar, 32
Brian Ortega, 29
Brett Johns, 28
Matt Sayles, 26

FEB. 22

Wallid Ismail, 52
Gregor Herb, 42
Edgar Garcia, 36
Ryan Hall, 35
Colby Covington, 32
Kuat Khamitov, 32

FEB. 23

Ruan Potts, 42
Gina Begley, 39
James Vick, 33
Olivier Aubin-Mercier, 31
Mike Hofer, 30

FEB. 24

Andre Roberts, 55
Bas Rutten, 55
Jon Fitch, 42
Shinsuke Nakamura, 40
Fernando Bruno, 38
Jan Blachowicz, 37

FEB. 25

Michael Quintero, 44
Kelly Kobold-Schmitz, 37
Ron Stallings, 37
Jacob McClintock, 32
Rachael Ostovich, 29

FEB. 26

John Lober, 52
T.J. Grant, 36
Ken Hasegawa, 33
Jeff Lentz, 31
Reant Febriza Rainir, 31

FEB. 27

Michael Knaap, 36
Antonio Castillo Jr., 33
Misha Cirkunov, 33
Thibault Gouti, 33
Sean Strickland, 29

FEB. 28

Jorge Rivera, 48
Michael Bisping, 41
Vinicius Moreira Castro, 31
Jarod Trice, 31
Glaico Franca, 29

FEB. 29

Jim Yorke, 44
Francimar Barroso, 40
Patrick Cote, 40
Dashawn Boatwright, 32
David Putvin, 28