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Dan Hooker said he'll forever be grateful to Israel Adesanya for teaching him a very important life lesson. Hooker and Adesanya are teammates at the City Kickboxing gym based in Auckland, New Zealand.
'The Hangman' took to Instagram story to share a picture of 'The Last Stylebender', thanking him for teaching him that the world is much smaller than he initially thought it was.
The image shared by Hooker on his Instagram story is a photo of Adesanya from UFC 192. This was back when 'The Last Stylebender' snuck onto the scales after weigh-ins to practice posing. Seven years later, the 32-year-old is headlining a main-event in the same arena.
The UFC lightweight was likely showing his gratitude to the Nigerian-born Kiwi for helping him shed self-limiting beliefs.
"My biggest mistake was thinking the world is bigger than it is. Izzy taught me that lesson and I will be forever grateful," Hooker wrote on his Instagram story.
Israel Adesanya stands out as one of the most outspoken athletes in recent times, as well as a prolific fighter inside the cage. Heading into his fifth title defense this weekend, Adesanya is yet to lose a single fight in the middleweight division.
Having said that, 'The Last Stylebender' does have a task cut out in front of him as he is scheduled to face former foe Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 271 on February 12. The fight is set to take place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Dan Hooker claims Israel Adesanya isn't underestimating Robert Whittaker heading into rematch
Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya fought each other for the first time back in 2019 in the main event of UFC 243. Adesanya put up a splendid display of striking inside the octagon to pick up a TKO win in the second round of the fight. Three years later, the pair are yet again set to go into battle with the middleweight title on the line.
According to Dan Hooker, 'The Last Stylebender' isn't underestimating Whittaker despite having knocked him out in their first meeting. Hooker revealed that he recently spoke to Adesanya, who told him he's taking the fight very seriously and is even a bit "nervous" about it.
During an interview with James Lynch, Hooker said:
"I guess with the rematch, especially the way that the first fight went, you can kind of – not necessarily underestimate your opponent – but you can take it a little bit lightly because you know you put on such a dominant performance right there. It might be hard to get up for the training but it’s not like that. He said to me this morning, he said, 'You know I'm nervous.' That's good, you know. He's got that nervous energy which you need."
Watch Dan Hooker's full interview with James Lynch below:
