'He's a damn unicorn' - Dan Hooker thinks Israel Adesanya is a 'one in a million' fighter
UFC lightweight Dan Hooker holds the middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in high regard. Hangman believes that Adesanya is a one in a million fighter who is underappreciated in his home country of New Zealand. During an interview with Ariel Helwani, Israel Adesanya's teammate Dan Hooker reflected on his UFC 257 loss against Michael Chandler. Hangman expressed his thoughts about Adesanya while describing his evolution as a fighter that has seen many ups and downs in his professional MMA career.
"Everyone has their role to play. I think he (Israel Adesanya) is underappreciated in New Zealand just because he's a damn unicorn. He's the one in a million. Not everyone is going to be the undefeated multi-division champion. It's just not my place... I would prefer myself to have that spot to be the undefeated guy but it's just not the way my story has been. My story is an sbsolute roller coaster," Dan Hooker told Ariel Helwani.
Dan Hooker (20-10 MMA, 10-6 UFC) fought former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler in the co-main event of UFC 257: Poirier vs McGregor 2 in January 2021. Hooker lost the high-stakes fight via first-round knockout and he is currently serving the quarantine period in his home country.
The loss was the first consecutive defeat of Dan Hooker's UFC career, following on from his defeated to Dustin Poirier in 2020. Hangman has only lost to the very best fighters in recent times. However, those losses have robbed the New Zealander of breakthrough performances and bigger opportunities. His teammate Israel Adesanya has been able to make the most of the opportunities and earn a crack at the second belt, prompting Hooker to praise the stylebender.
Is Dan Hooker's appreciation of Israel Adesanya rightly placed?
Israel Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) came to the UFC in 2018 as a relatively inexperienced mixed martial artist with a formidable kickboxing background. Stylebender has become one of the biggest stars in less than three years time and currently occupies No.3 position in the UFC's pound-for-poud rankings, just behind all-time greats Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones.
Israel Adesanya won the middleweight title from Robert Whittaker and has defeated all the top competition before and during his championship reign. The dominant performances at middleweight have earned Adesanya a shot at the light heavyweight title.
He is expected to fight current champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 on March 6, 2021. Although there is a weight gap of 20lbs between the two divisions, Israel Adesanya has clarified that he will not try to put on weight for his title fight. The move only highlights Adesanya's supreme confidence in his skills. If Adesanya is able to get the job done against Blachowicz, it is difficult to deny him a place among all-time great MMA fighters.
The fact that Israel Adesanya has gone from a touted prospect to a potential two-division champion in a short amount of time without taking an L on the record is enough to conclude that Dan Hooker's appreciation of his city kickboxing teammate is rightly placed.