Israel Adesanya criticizes Dan Hooker-Arnold Allen stoppage at UFC London: “Come on ref, what the f**k”

Israel Adesanya thinks the ref stopped Arnold Allen’s TKO win over Dan Hooker too early.

In the co-main event of UFC London, Hooker returned to featherweight and was facing Allen who is undefeated in the UFC. It was an intriguing matchup and a crucial fight for Hooker. Early on, both men threw heavy shots but it was Allen who wound up catching Hooker with a big combination. The Kiwi responded with a nice counter that staggered the Brit for a moment. However, Allen continued the pressure and landed heavy shots along the fence and the ref eventually stopped the fight.

To many, the stoppage felt fine and even Hooker didn’t protest it. But, his teammate in Israel Adesanya believes it was too early.

“Come on ref, what the f**k, he was fine. Ref,” Adesanya said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

After UFC London, Israel Adesanya continued to suggest the stoppage was early. He also believes the ref should’ve given Dan Hooker the benefit of the doubt and allowed him to continue.

“I still think, I don’t know, It’s hard for me to say, but I feel like I’ve seen later stoppages. I know Dan, but still. I wasn’t in there, whatever,” Adesanya later added. “But like, just, f**k. It sucks, it sucks, and I feel for Dan because I know how much he puts into this. But as we do this, we’ll be back, ain’t no sh*t, we’ll be back.”

Dan Hooker drops to 21-12 as a pro and just 1-4 in his last five with his lone win coming against Nasrat Haqparast. With that said, his losses have come to the some of the very best. However, with this setback to Arnold Allen at UFC London, it’s uncertain what will be next for him. As for Adesanya, he’s likely to defend his middleweight title against Jared Cannonier in the summer.

Do you agree with Israel Adesanya that the Dan Hooker-Arnold Allen stoppage was too early?