Back in July, Dan Hooker had revealed that he was scared to spar with the Israel Adesanya. He attributed that to the ‘freakish’ strength that he had developed in his time off from fighting. It turns out ‘The Last Stylebender’ has only gotten stronger and better following that as he doubled down on his take in a recent interview ahead of UFC 305.
City Kickboxing will be looking forward to a three-peat at UFC 305 with 3 of their fighters fighting on the same card. One of those fighters is Hooker himself.
Despite fighting this weekend, he seems more excited to get to watch ‘Izzy’ take on UFC middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis. In an interview with The Sporting News Australia, he praised Adesanya’s impressive physique and his impressive power shots.
“He is just looking scary now… He’s hitting harder than he’s ever hit before. He’s got some kind of new strength and power.”
⚡️Dan Hooker share his thoughts about Israel Adesanya’s current shape.
“He is just looking scary now… He’s hitting harder than he’s ever hit before. He’s got some kind of new strength and power. I guess he just didn’t have the time to do it [to lift weights]. He was fighting… pic.twitter.com/lXWUfxEg4d
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 12, 2024
Hooker believes the added muscle onto Izzy’s frame will hugely improve his performance. Pair that with his exceptional striking ability, and the former middleweight champion is a force to be reckoned with.
Meanwhile, Hooker also had a hilarious interaction with fans before his UFC 305 fight. The New Zealand native could not believe that fans wanted to donate money to see him fight in the UFC.
‘Save the f*cking Pandas’: Dan Hooker
Before Hooker found himself on the UFC 305 card, fans were desperate to see him fight in Perth, so desperate that that they had started an online petition and donated money for the same.
They pleaded with the UFC to Hooker back to action. Now that would enamor many a fighter, but Hooker is not one of those guys.
In an interview with Submission Radio, he told fans to give their hard money for a better cause, like saving the Pandas!
“Save it for f*cking pandas….There’s so much better s*it (to donate to) than getting Dan Hooker a fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.”
UFC fans donated money to petition for Dan Hooker to fight on #UFC305 in #Perth
“Save it for f****g pandas.”
@SubmissionRadio ▫️ pic.twitter.com/NnIK21pGL7
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 11, 2024
Ironically, this is the kind of ‘nice guy’ behavior is a major reason for fans absolutely loving the fighter and wanting to see him fight and succeed in his career.
