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Dan Hooker has blasted the media in New Zealand for portraying Israel Adesanya in a negative light following Adesanya's recent comments about not wanting to fight in the country anymore.
According to Hooker, the media has been insinuating that Israel Adesanya doesn't like the country. 'The Hangman' believes that the assessment couldn't be further from the truth. In a recent interaction with Ariel Helwani on MMA Hour, Dan Hooker said:
"The media in New Zealand, the way they kind of portrayed what Israel said and how they portrayed us saying that we're going to make the shift. We were forced to make the shift out over New Zealand. A majority of the media that did stories about it in New Zealand painted it in a negative light. They painted it like we're leaving because we don't like New Zealand or we're looking for special treatment because we are sports stars. They're not heeding the call. I think they're just portraying him in a negative light. They're saying that he's asking for too much or asking for special treatment. How can asking to go to work be asking for special treatment? That guy has done more for New Zealand than any one of those people having a go at him. That guy has put NZ in the absolute spotlight. Israel made the world sit and watch NZ combat sports and for that they're saying he doesn't like New Zealand. It's just the worst," Dan Hooker said.
Check out Israel Adesanya's post:
Watch Dan Hooker's appearance on MMA Hour below:
Why doesn't Israel Adesanya want to fight in New Zealand again?
Due to the ongoing COVID-19-related lockdown in New Zealand, Israel Adesanya announced that he'd move his entire City Kickboxing camp to the United States.
In a recently released video on his YouTube channel, the UFC middleweight champ tore into bureaucrats in NZ for not allowing certain exemptions to fighters during the ongoing lockdown. He then vowed never to compete there again.
"The constant effort to stifle, to break up, to disrupt our team City Kickboxing from helping team captain Dan 'Hangman' get ready for his fight, that pi**ed me off the most. If it was me, I already know, they don't like me, the bureaucrats of this fu***** country," Adesanya said.
During the emotional outburst, Israel Adesanya also mentioned that it was once his dream to fight in New Zealand but the dream is now 'dead.'
Check out the video below:
