Dan Hooker is warning everyone about the power of Israel Adesanya. Hooker believes the former champion has taken time off to come back bigger and stronger than before and is hitting way harder now.
Following his loss to Sean Strickland, Adesanya had taken a break from fighting so he could recover from his injuries and rediscover himself, just focusing on training and getting better.
Hooker, Adesanya’s City Kickboxing teammate has noticed a significant surge in his power. The pair regularly train and spar together.
However, in a recent interview for Submission Radio, Hooker revealed how he’s been avoiding sparring with ‘The Last Stylebender’. He said:
“Like the way he’s hitting me, you’d think he’s like 105 kilos…He spent a lot of time just packing on some size and a lot of strength, bro. And he’s just, he’s hitting like a truck, man.”
Dan Hooker explains Israel is “hitting like a truck” heading into #UFC305 and DDP is in for a rude awakening!
“I can’t wait till he can get out there. So if you think he can just walk in his front door and raid his fridge, I think you’re in for a you’re in for a rude… pic.twitter.com/mCW8kQ1tgX
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) July 15, 2024
Now, 105 kilos is heavyweight territory, which would mean Adesanya has gained about 30 lbs worth of power.
However, he will be competing for the middleweight title so if he can still maintain that power at 185 lbs, boy oh boy, Dricus Du Plessis is not returning to Africa let alone returning as the ‘real African champion’.
But Izzy is not the only good thing coming put of the gym!
City Kickboxing could have a massive event at UFC 305 as 3 of their fighters are set to fight on the same day. Hooker will be the first to fight out of the three and he is ready to set the night strong
Dan Hooker excited to be on same card as Izzy and Kara-France
Hooker on Mateusz Gamrot in the main card, while Kara-France takes on Steve Erceg in the co-main event. All three Kiwis ae favorites going into their fights and will look to dominate.
But since Hooker is going first, he spoke about how he will look to set the standards high for his teammates,
“Let me get this party started boys, like let me go out there and let me show you how to do this whole cage fighting thing…Just setting the tone for the boys, that gets me barred up.”
Dan Hooker can’t wait to get the party started ahead of @kaikarafrance and @stylebender and @citykickboxing at #UFC305!
“I’ve known Kai like since he was like 16, 17 year old kid training with him out in West Auckland at Strikeforce. Like, I’ve been training this kid for… pic.twitter.com/pbU7CNCCaF
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) July 15, 2024
This will be the first time where Hooker, Kara-France, and Adesanya are fighting on the same card. Although City Kickboxing has pulled off the three-peat before, they haven’t done it with three fighters this dominant.
