Dan Hooker predicts Israel Adesanya to win on the feet against Alex Pereira at UFC 281

Dan Hooker(L), Israel Adesanya(R)

Dan Hooker is no stranger to fighting the best fighters on the planet. He has faced the likes of Poirier, Chandler, and Makhachev and holds wins over amazing fighters like Paul Felder, and Al Iaquinta. So it’s safe to assume that he knows what he’s talking about when discussing fights and fighters.

Discussing the title fight between his teammate Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira on Submission Radio, the Hangman said that he felt most people hadn’t watched back the previous meetings between the pair. He explained his interpretation of the fights: “The first fight, I thought Israel won that fight. And in the second fight he was handling it, very comfortable but just got caught.” Dan Hooker seems to be in agreement with a lot of other people who also believe Izzy won the first one.

What Hooker was getting at was the fact that it’s unfair when people claim Pereira has a kickboxing advantage. Hooker elaborated: “Israel is on another level…I feel like it’s entirely up to Israel. He’s the one who gets to dictate this. I feel like he can beat Alex if he just keeps it on the feet.” Clearly, Dan Hooker is very confident in the striking skills of Adesanya.

FS Video

Nevertheless, despite Hooker’s advice, it will not be an easy day at the office for Adesanya as he takes on Pereira for the title. Dan fights Claudio Puelles on the same card, the teammates will hope that their preparation suffices.

Dan Hooker reveals he is now chasing the Lightweight title

In the same interview, the Hangman also discussed his own career. Over the years, he has established himself as one of the toughest lightweights in the world. Having won only 1 out of his last 5 fights, the Hangman is now looking to pick up some momentum. He has the perfect opportunity to do that against Claudio Puelles at UFC 281.

Dan insists that he had to work on his basics. He told Submission Radio: “I got in positions where I was one fight away from Conor McGregor or from fighting for the title. But there was not a strong foundation.” Hooker said he had to work on his fundamentals to build a strong foundation in order to get the lightweight title.

Also Read: “F**k all yous” – Conor McGregor has savage reply after fans troll him for VIRAL Halloween look

He also stated that the title means you’re the best in the world, and Hooker made it clear that the belt is the only thing on his mind. He explained, saying: “You are not seeing me compete in the UFC if the objective is not a world title. I’m not interested in anything else.” Though Dan Hooker has made his ambitions clear, it will be not an easy task to dethrone the dominant champion, Islam Makhachev.

Also Read: “New boxer is coming to town”- Paulo Costa sends Twitter into meltdown with a CRAZY update regarding his UFC contract