‘He’s getting scary’: UFC fighter Dan Hooker talks Israel Adesanya, while eyeing up lightweight title run
New Zealand’s Dan Hooker reveals details of Israel Adesanya’s training camp ahead of UFC 305 in Perth and why he is not sparring the champion as he has done in the past.
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Dan Hooker has sparred plenty of rounds in dozens of fight camps with Israel Adesanya over the years.
Not this time around though.
Hooker, who fights Mateusz Gamrot in a high stakes lightweight fight at UFC 305 in Perth next weekend, says “scary” Adesanya is hitting too hard ahead of his middleweight title tilt against Dricus du Plessis on the same card.
“Old Izzy’s getting scary, brother,” Hooker told this masthead on a rare quiet moment in a hectic training camp. “The big fella’s back in action.
“He’s hitting hard, and I can’t even be bothered sparring him. He’s being an absolute menace.
“He’s back to the best he’s ever looked, he’s hitting harder than ever and it’s scary when you spar him.
“He’s looking deadly.”
All of which points to good signs for Adesanya’s goal of winning back the middleweight title.
And, if everything goes to plan, Hooker can book a lightweight title fight with Islam Makhachev.
That’s not what he hopes. That’s what the Kiwi MMA veteran knows.
“That’s just what it is,” Hooker said. “The winner of this fight is the next guy on a win streak.
“Look at all the big names, they’re coming off losses. (Michael) Chandler’s coming off a loss, (Charles) Oliveira’s coming off a loss, (Dustin) Poirier’s coming off a loss.
“You don’t get s**t coming off a loss. You don’t get a look at the title coming off a loss.”
Hooker is riding a two-fight win streak, including one of the bravest performances of 2023 when he scored a decision victory over Jalin Turner despite breaking his arm.
His most recent two-fight winning run is a flashback to his pre-Covid form, when Hooker put together a 6-1 run, including first round stoppages of Jim Miller, Gilbert Burns and James Vick.
He capped that off with a Fight of the Night victory over Paul Felder at a sold out Spark Arena () in Auckland in February 2020, before the whole world fell apart.
Unable to train properly due to New Zealand’s strict Covid protocols, Hooker lost to Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler and Islam Makhachev.
“Over that Covid time, I was training in my garage, bro,” he said. “For that fight with Islam, I didn’t do a single jiu jitsu session. Not a single one.
“We were training in my garage, and we kept putting holes in the walls, or getting tackled into the washing machine. My dad had to come over and fix all the holes in the walls.
“So we decided to ditch jiu jitsu and just smash the pads and go running.
“That’s the high-stakes nature of the sport though.”
Now that he’s able to train alongside Adesanya and Kai Kara-France – who will also fight at UFC 304 – Hooker says he plans on reminding the world of his pre-Covid form.
“That’s what excites me most,” he said. “You get your hand raised against Gamrot, you’re top five.
“You’re getting the big fights, you’re one off a title fight, if not the next in line.
“That’s what it is, it’s not even speculation. That’s the facts of the matter – Islam’s next.
“I’m back in the mix, I’m back surrounded by some of the best coaches in the world. This is a different kettle of fish.”
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