Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will challenge current 185-pound titleholder Dricus Du Plessis atop the UFC 305 pay-per-view (PPV) event this weekend at RAC Arena in Perth, a bout that showcases a new and improved Adesanya after “The Last Stylebender” competed with secret injuries for the better part of six years.
“You have no idea how many injuries this guy was carrying and just shut up about and did not talk about,” longtime teammate Dan Hooker told Submission Radio. “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.”
Adesanya, 35, suffered three losses since defeating Brad Tavares back in summer 2018, falling to Jan Blachowicz (UFC 259), Alex Pereira (UFC 281), and Sean Strickland (UFC 293). His Strickland defeat cost him the middleweight title, but “Tarzan” was unable to retain the strap, falling to Du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event earlier this year in Toronto.
“Probably like since Tavares,” Hooker revealed about Adesanya’s injury timeline. “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 remains a slight betting favorite for UFC 305.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 305 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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