"An incredibly hard man to touch with your hands" - Dan Hooker details sparring session with Israel Adesanya
Dan Hooker recently detailed sparring sessions with Israel Adesanya, his City Kickboxing teammate, on a podcast. He claimed that Adesanya's intangible defense is a staple of longlasting champions.
Hooker stated that 'The Last Stylebender' is a very hard man to hit. In a sport that is constantly evolving, Adesanya has changed the way everyone perceived striking through his laser-sharp precision punches, exceptional footwork and seemingly impregnable defense.
Reflecting on their viral sparring sessions and speaking about Adesanya's famed defense on the Between Two Beers podcast, Hooker said:
''He's [Israel Adesanya] a very hard man to hit. He's an incredibly hard man to hit with your hands. You can look at the history of combat sports, people that live forever, and people that win the most world titles, and go the furthest have the best defense. That's the just the fact of the matter."
Eugene Bareman and his team at the City Kickboxing Academy have taken the MMA world by storm. They've produced world-class athletes and have emerged as one of the strongest camps in the MMA world today.
Watch Dan Hooker talk about Israel Adesanya on the Between Two Beers podcast:
Dan Hooker will make his return to the lightweight division at UFC 281, which will be headlined by teammate Israel Adesanya
Dan Hooker will make a return to the lightweight division after testing the featherweight waters against Arnold Allen at UFC Fight Night London. 'The Hangman' has joined the line-up for UFC 281, scheduled for Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York. He will face Claudio Puelles, The Ultimate Fighter Latin America season 3 finalist.
Hooker joins teammate and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who will headline the card against kickboxing rival Alex Pereira. The two fighters have a history dating back to their days as Glory kickboxers, where Pereira defeated Adesanya with a left hook knockout, making him the only fighter to have ever knocked out 'The Last Stylebender'.
Israel Adesanya reigns supreme at the top of the middleweight division with five successful title defenses, and a victory against 'Poatan' would be a great payback story.
The card will also feature a fight between Erin Blanchfield and Molly McCann in the women's flyweight division. There are rumors of former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler being a part of the card as well, which would be an exciting addition.