Dan Hooker looks back at the loss by his friend Israel Adesanya at UFC 281.
The UFC 281 event was a showcase of sorts for the fighters from City Kickboxing in New Zealand. That high-caliber team had four fighters featured on the card although there were losses, by both Brad Riddell and Israel Adesanya. One of the winners of the night Dan Hooker took some time out to speak out on his teammate Adesanya’s defeat that night and how he sees him moving forward in the wake of the title loss.
Adesanya looked to defend his title for the sixth time against Alex Pereira on Saturday night. Unfortunately for him despite winning the majority of the fight, Pereira scored the TKO in the fifth round. After the fight, Adesanya spoke about an injury to his leg during the fight that compromised his game plan but did not make excuses for himself. His teammate Hooker applauded his friend for this.
“I was definitely not surprised by how well he dealt with it. He’s an absolute champion in the same way. You know, he dealt with when he went for the light heavyweight championship and it didn’t pan out, he did that same thing,” he said on The Submission Radio Podcast. “He did the press conference, he really mans up. He’s very gracious in defeat, and that’s a true champion, how a champion carries himself when the chips are down and the chips are down, and he continued to carry himself, like a champion.”
Dan Hooker is supporting Israel Adesanya through his loss and is happy he is ok following the TKO
Some fans came out after the bout and stated that they thought the stoppage was premature. Adesanya himself said he did not have a problem with it although he thought he was ok at the moment and could continue. Hooker gave his perspective on this matter.
“You can say all you want, all that tough guy act but yeah, I don’t know, you as the fighter is always gonna think that, but then me watching it as a friend I just want him to be alright. You know what I mean? As a friend and as a teammate I’d rather it stopped too early than too late.”
Hooker picked up a win over Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 and moved up to the number 11 spot in the official UFC rankings. He is confident that his teammate has earned a rematch and is looking forward to that day if and when it comes.
