The UFC has made Dan Hooker's decision to relocate to the United States an easy one.
The world's No.6 lightweight should be in a New Zealand managed isolation facility today, but has instead taken a short-notice fight against Islam Makhachev this month at Abu Dhabi.
Just days after the most flawless performance of his career in shutting out German Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266, the Kiwi received the SOS from matchmaker Sean Selby to step in and fight the highly touted Russian.
With MIQ voucher in hand, Hooker accepted the fight, leaving his journey home a mystery, but the City Kickboxing team captain says only a family emergency will bring him home, while quarantining is required.
Speaking from the UFC Performance Institute at Las Vegas, Hooker says the company has pulled every measure to ensure a smooth transition from Aotearoa - including flying out his family.
"I accepted the fight, and then the matchmakers said they would bring my family out and get me a place to stay, and do all of that personal stuff," Hooker tells Newshub. "It's making the decision an easy one.
"It's all pretty incredible what they have done for me to make this work, and I feel once my wife and daughter are here, that mission is complete.
"I just have to train for a couple of weeks, head over there [Fight Island], get the job done and then come back here, bring my wife and daughter over, and that's happy days for me."
Hooker, 31, had his City Kickboxing training camp shut down by Police, despite the gym doing everything it could to remain within Government protocols, including having all team members living on location.
Then, Police warned him several times for training at his own Ellerslie gym, leaving the Aucklander to prepare for his fight in a makeshift gym, alone in his garage.
With a UFC title fight arguably just two wins away, Hooker says he has to put his family and his career first - and like teammate Israel Adesanya - that means leaving New Zealand to avoid a repeat.
"It's only once you get out of it that you realise how constricting our training regime was under protocols.
"Coming over here and having all of this at my feet, compared to getting back to New Zealand, quarantine - maybe 2-3 weeks after my fight, if I actually did get a spot - and I'm in lockdown, unable to train and unable to grab my teammates to get the work done...
"I'm done complaining about MIQ - I'm now about doing the best for my family and that's to bring them here, make some money and put food on the table.
"I understand quarantine is a necessity, but I've done two of them and I have no idea how some of the boys have done up to six - I'd just go insane.
"Having your family at arm's reach every day - close enough to grab, but you have to stay between the gates - to me, it's torture. I'd rather bring them here and take care of them here."
Hooker faces a monumental challenge attempting to hand the fifth-ranked Makhachev a first UFC loss. The 30-year-old has steamrolled his way to a 9-1 record inside the cage - including eight straight - and is considered the heir apparent to former division kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov - his coach.
But Hooker represents the toughest fight of Makhachev's UFC tenure and the Kiwi is confident his skillet will prevail.
"I'm extremely confident. I'm not going to sit here and convince people that I have a chance of winning, I don't need to do that.
"What's been intriguing about this fight is people asking me how I am going to win? I think I'm going to win because I believe I am the best.
"If you truly believe that, then I don't have to justify the how or why.
"People can go back and look at my record, and see who I have beaten and they know what I can do."
Coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over Haqparast, which Hooker describes as the most "mature" of his 12-year career, the 'Hangman' has every right to be confident about the UFC 267 bout.
"You learn through maturity and experience that you don't need to make the fight a war when there doesn't need to be one.
"The fighter on the other side of the cage needs to be at my skillset and then we can have a war, so closely matched that I have to dig deep and take risks, and then we can have an exciting fight.
"But if I can outclass someone on the feet and take them down in an easy path to victory, then that's what I'm going to do.
"I've been in every single position possible. I've been choked out, I've been knocked out - what can he possibly show me that I haven't experienced before?
"There is no fear from me of his ability - none."
Join Newshub on November on November 1 for live updates of UFC 267
