Israel Adesanya will make his octagon return against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 with the middleweight title on the line. Going into the fight, the bad blood between both fighters remains intense. While Du Plessis is quite confident about his chances, UFC lightweight Dan Hooker has some words of advice for the champ.
Dan Hooker and Israel Adesanya both train at the City Kickboxing. They have been training partners for years. According to Hooker, Izzy has gained some impressive strength lately. In a recent interview with Submission Radio, ‘Hangman’ shared some sparring session stories involving the former UFC middleweight champion.
He’s had some time off. He has spent a lot of time just packing up some size and a lot of strength. He’s just hitting like a truck. I can’t even be bothered sparring him.
Dan Hooker via Submission Radio
Hooker also showed respect for Dricus Du Plessis and his fighting style. However, the Kiwi fighter believed Du Plessis won’t be able to just walk right past Izzy in any circumstance. In addition to that, Hooker has also landed himself a fight against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 alongside Adesanya.
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
Adesanya’s last octagon performance was disappointing against Sean Strickland. The ‘Stylebender’ lost the UFC 293 title fight in a lopsided manner. However, it seems like the Auckland native will be bringing back his well-known dynamic striking in the upcoming fight. Adesanya is currently 34 years old and will look forward to making the most of the remaining fighting days.
Dricus Du Plessis praises Israel Adesanya despite planning to retire him
The rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis is based on the ‘Real African’ comment that was made by the champion. Ahead of the fight, Izzy looks forward to punishing ‘Stillknocks’ for his disrespectful comments. Similarly, Du Plessis has also the same mentality and is thinking of retiring Izzy by giving a loss.
Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya (via X)In a recent interview with Hard Check podcast, the South African champion confirmed that the ‘Stylebender’ might be inclined towards retirement after losing to him. However, the champ also had an incredible amount of respect for Izzy and his UFC career.
Yes, probably. I mean the guy has done it all in the sport. To say it’s a great career is underselling it. He’s had one of the greatest careers of all time.
Dricus Du Plessis via Hard Check podcast
Adesanya has never talked about potential retirement plans. However, losing another title fight might drop him down in the rankings. Climbing the rankings again and competing for the title would take much time, which the fighter wouldn’t want to go through. All answers will be answered at UFC 305 when Adesanya fights for the middleweight title for the third time in his UFC career.
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