"Absolute psychopath" - When Israel Adesanya questioned Dan Hooker's sanity after insane sparring session
It's no secret that UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and UFC lightweight Dan Hooker share a close friendship and train together at the City Kickboxing (CKB) gym in Auckland, New Zealand. The two men often celebrate each other's wins in the octagon and commonly feature in each other's social media posts.
Given that the two teammates train together regularly, seeing their coach pit them against each other in sparring practice is not surprising. With Adesanya and Hooker both among the UFC's top stars, their training undoubtedly reflects the dedication and intensity required to stay on top of the game.
In a 2021 episode of Adesanya's YouTube vlog, 'The Last Stylebender' documented one such sparring session with 'The Hangman'. Things got so intense between the two UFC superstars that Israel Adesanya even called Dan Hooker an "absolute psychopath."
The footage showed Hooker chasing Adesanya down and raining a barrage of brutal ground-and-pound shots at the Nigerian-born Kiwi. The UFC lightweight also landed multiple hammer fists on the grounded Adesanya, jokingly calling them his "love taps." Israel Adesanya can be heard saying:
"Always good to have a psychopath. Look at him [pointing at Hooker]. Psychopath. Absolute psychopath."
Watch the full episode below:
Dan Hooker UFC: When Israel Adesanya shared a chilling story of the promise 'The Hangman' made to himself
Israel Adesanya once recalled Dan Hooker's performance at UFC 281 in November 2022 and compared it to 'The Hangman's debut fight in the promotion.
During his appearance on the Flagrant podcast with Andrew Schulz, Adesanya built on his claims that Hooker is a "psychopath" and narrated the story of how Hooker's last fight against Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 was similar to his UFC debut.
Israel Adesanya explained that Dan Hooker made his UFC debut against a leg-lock specialist, much like Puelles, and made an insane promise to himself before the fight. Stating that 'The Hangman' promised himself he wouldn't tap out even if his leg snapped, Adesanya said:
"When I was watching [Hooker] fight, I was like, 'This reminds me of Dan's debut because Dan fought this guy who's a leg lock specialist... The guy took his legs and Dan's bendy, he's bendy as f**k, he's so flexible and he was able to beat the guy and f**k him up from that position and eventually finished him."
Adesanya continued:
"Dan said to himself at his UFC debut in Auckland, if this guy gets to my legs, and he cranks - Dan made an agreement with himself to just let it go like okay, he's gonna break my legs, cool. He's a psycho."
膝十字でのばされているのにのんびり休憩しているかのようなダンフッカー
Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles #UFC281 https://t.co/WjVgE2Cqkv
Watch the full episode below: