Dan Hooker claims Israel Adesanya is finally in good health after carrying “terrible injuries” for years: “Dricus is in for a rude awakening”

Dan Hooker is claiming that Israel Adesanya is finally in good health after carrying ‘terrible injuries’ for years.

UFC 305 takes place this coming Saturday, August 17th at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Headlining the event is the much-anticipated middleweight title fight between previous champion Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA) and current champion Dricus Du Plessis (21-2 MMA).

Dan Hooker, a longtime teammate of Adesanya at City Kickboxing, knows a thing or two about the health and training rituals when it comes to ‘The Last Stylebender’.

Hooker spoke with ‘Submission Radio’ and shared Adesanya’s struggles:

“You have no idea how many injuries this guy was carrying and just shut up about and did not talk about. I’ve seen him just full hobbling. And then just like, that’s when I get nervous for big fights. Because he’s carrying terrible injuries into these fights. So, to see him back at 100 percent and to feel him in the gym and know how scary he is, yeah, Dricus is in for a rude awakening. Because the guy you saw in the last fight is not the same animal.”

As far as a timeline for Adesanya’s injuries, Hooker revealed (h/t MMAMania):

“Probably like since Tavares. Bro, people can say what they want. The guy fights. The guy’s had 100 kickboxing fights. Like, professional kickboxing fights. That guy is active. He will fight absolutely anyone. But yeah, it’s been a really long time. Like, when he smoked Brunson, he was on one leg, and his knee was absolutely fried. When he’s beaten some of his biggest wins in his life, I’ve been having an absolute heart attack, because I know that he couldn’t lift his arm over his shoulder a week ago. You know what I mean? So, we haven’t seen him in this form for a very long time.”

Adesanya defeated Brad Tavares (20-9 MMA) back in the summer of 2018, that’s a long time to be carrying injuries into the cage.

Hooker’s assurance that Adesanya is back to 100% could mean Du Plessis will have a tough time hanging on to middleweight gold at UFC 305.

Dan Hooker (23-12 MMA) will also be fighting on Saturday night at UFC 305, getting in the cage with Mateusz Gamrot (24-2 MMA) in a lightweight bout.

Will you be watching UFC 305? Will you be betting on Adesanya to reclaim the middleweight title?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!