Dan Hooker was left stunned by the UFC 300 main event announcement and claims Israel Adesanya was set to return as the headliner in Las Vegas.
Israel Adesanya Fiasco Leaves Dan Hooker Confused
Hooker revealed that “Stylebender” was in contention to headline the card on 13th April. Claiming he is now unsure as to why this will not be the case.
Adesanya’s teammate told Sky Sports New Zealand: “I want Dana (White) to come out and say what had all gone on behind the scenes. As far as I knew, like, Israel was stepping up to fight in that (UFC) 300 slot.”
The former middleweight champion lost his belt to Sean Strickland on 10th September and has not fought since. However, Hooker believes Israel Adesanya is now raring to go.
Hooker said: “(Israel Adesanya’s) continued to stay in the gym. Stay healthy and stay training very hard. So I would anticipate him getting another fight booked pretty soon, you know.”
A Brief History of Israel Adesanya V Dricus Du Plessis
The only thing on Israel Adesanya’s mind is likely getting the belt back and that would be by fighting the champion, Dricus Du Plessis.
Their octagon face-off at UFC 290, after Du Plessis beat Robert Whittaker via TKO in the second round, was a sight for sore eyes as things began to get personal.
No one knows if Adesanya was just trying to sell the fight, or if he was expressing his true feelings when he said: “This is my African brother right here. Let’s go n****. What’s up bitch? Let’s go n****. Yeah, n****! What’s up n****? The f*ck you going to do n****? Yeah, my African brother!”
Du Plessis reacted in his post-fight press conference by saying: “That’s not how a champion behaves. That’s not how a man behaves. He’s behaving like a child. Conduct yourself like a champion. There are people looking up to you, and you’re behaving like that? No.”
Dana White, who has always stated that his fighters have freedom of speech, interpreted his actions differently and said: “It’s the fight business. (Israel Adesanya) can say whatever he wants to say.”
The pair were supposed to headline the card in Sydney last year, when Adesanya fought Strickland, but the South African pulled out due to injury. Although neither will headline UFC 300, an all-African bout is likely to be made very soon.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
