Dan Hooker thinks we’re getting a different version of Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.
It’s been all gas and no brakes for “The Last Stylebender” since entering the UFC in 2018, fighting a total of 16 times inside the Octagon, not leaving much in between fights. But, Adesanya finally gets a change in pace when he returns from a 11-month layoff against Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title. The two headline UFC 305 from Perth, Australia this weekend.
Adesanya’s “New Strength And Power”
The last we saw of Adesanya was at UFC 293, where the longtime champion would fall to Sean Strickland by decision at UFC 293. Getting his injuries taken care of and building himself back up in the gym, teammate Hooker says the former champ is looking scarier than ever ahead of his return.
“He went away, fixed all those injuries that he was kind of carrying around and he’s just been like pumping the weights,” Hooker said of Adesanya in an interview with Sporting News Australia. “He’s came back and he is just looking scary mate. I don’t even want to spar the bloke anymore. He’s hitting harder than he has ever been hitting. He’s got some kind of new strength and power that I’ve never [seen], yeah, he’s scary. He’s looking scary right now.”
Bulking Season
Adesanya is noticeably bigger in size than his last few fights, working more on strength training in his time away from competition and he’s gonna need all that and more when he crosses paths with middleweight tank Du Plessis.
“I guess he just don’t usually have the time to do it. He’s fighting as a champion five times a year. Obviously you just don’t have the time to put that kind of [time] into lifting weights and doing strength and working on those kind of things. Him having that time to go away and to pack on a bit more weight and add a bit more size to his frame is, has obviously really like positively impacted like his performance.”
Hooker Expects Adesanya To ‘Get The Job Done’ vs. DDP After Off-Night Against Strickland
As for Adesanya’s last performance…
“He just wasn’t really trying against Strickland,” Hooker said of Adesanya, who may have been carrying some injuries going into that fight. “[To] see him back now and in the shape he’s in at the moment and the way that he’s hitting, I’m excited and I’m pretty confident he’ll get the job done there against Dricus.”
We’ll see if Israel Adesanya is as good as Dan Hooker say he is, when he takes on Dricus Du Plessis this Saturday (Sunday, locally) at UFC 305. “Hangman” Hooker also fights on the main card against a top-5 contender in Mateuz Gamrot.
