New Zealand’s Dan Hooker has been a staple of the UFC roster ever since he made his debut back in 2014. The Octagon has been graced by some great and iconic fighters from Oceania and “The Hangman” was a big part of the new wave that would take MMA in the region to new heights entirely.
One of those moments that is now looked back on as a pivotal moment in the history of the sport is when Hooker was joined on the roster by a fellow countryman of his and teammate at Auckland’s City Kickboxing. Israel Adesanya arrived in the UFC four years after his long-time gym mate and the two men have produced some incredible moments in front of both home and away crowds.
They’ve been through a lot together and as someone that knows “The Last Stylebender” better than most, Hooker believes that there is a common misconception about their dynamic. Adesanya has been a superstar from his very first year in the promotion where he racked up four consecutive wins to climb to the top of the 185-pound division.
As a result, there is a lot that is said or presumed about the former two-time middleweight champion who makes his return this weekend to face Nassourdine Imavov in his first non-title main event since 2019. Hooker recently spoke in an interview with Dom Harvey about the character of his teammate and why people get them the wrong way round.
Hooker has shown on multiple occasions that he’s a kill or be killed fighter and whilst we have seen that from Adesanya in the past as well, “The Hangman” swears that you won’t find a better person outside of the cage.
“Without a shadow of a doubt like goes back to the day we die. It’s not one of those friendships where you have to message each other every day…we go through like a lot of the the similar things obviously, I don’t tell the levels that he’s at like the levels of fame that he’s at is absolutely wild and we are very different people.
“The funny part about it is people think he’s the bad one and I’m the nice one and I’m just like thinking, ‘what the heck?’. Israel’s like one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. He is actually like a really nice heartfelt dude and I’m just not…Israel Like there’s no malice in it, it’s a competitive sport and he’s got no malicious intent like when he fights.”