Dan Hooker Praises 'Scary' Teammate Israel Adesanya: 'He’s Hitting Like an Ox'

Dan Hooker claims that Israel Adesanya is physically different going into UFC 305.

Adesanya challenges Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title in the main event at UFC 305 on Saturday in Perth, Australia. Hooker, who is his City Kickboxing teammate, also competes on the same card against Mateusz Gamrot in matchup of lightweight contenders.

Hooker recently revealed that Adesanya has primarily been working on his strength and conditioning during his 10-month layoff, the longest of his career. And Hooker can not only see the effects of that in Adesanya’s physique but also feels them in sparring.

“So honestly, he’s hitting like an ox right now,” Hooker told Fox Sports Australia. “And hitting harder than I’ve ever seen before. He really is looking scary. In all the time off, Izzy did nothing but work with his strength and conditioning coach, lift weights, doing all of this stuff.

“There’s just a voice in the back of your head now that’s saying something different. Previously when you’d get hit by Izzy, when he kicks you in the arms, in the shoulders, you’d be like ‘OK, yeah, that’s not too bad… But now? Now he kicks me in the arm and I go ‘f—k that’. That little voice in the back of my head starts saying ‘f—k, I should’ve studied harder in school, I should’ve got a real job’. He’s hitting so hard now it makes you regret your life decisions.”

UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

Adesanya revealed some significant changes he made in his training regimen including hiring a personal chef. The former middleweight champ also did a “pre-season camp” with strength and conditioning coach Abiola Beckley and is working with High Performance Sport New Zealand – which was responsible for the country’s Paris 2024 Olympics success.

Adesanya revealed that his 16-week camp also saw the entire timetable readjusted at CKB.

“Our entire gym timetable has been revamped,” Adesanya said. “We’ve kept those things that were useful and discarded others that weren’t. Some things too we’ve just shifted to another part of the week. But by the time I’m ready to go, it will have been a 16-week camp. I had a preseason for this. I’ve never done that before. I want to level up.”

While Adesanya never had trouble making weight due to his good genetics, there’s now method to the Kiwi’s diet, which is already showing him results.

“I’ve stopped eating Uber eats for every meal. I now have a chef, which means I’m eating whole foods, good foods and fueling myself properly,” Adesanya said. “Because I don’t understand the science of nutrition, I’ve always just eaten when I was hungry; and eaten whatever I liked. And I have been blessed with good genetics to make weight. I never miss weight. But for me now, it’s about being diligent and really purposeful with what I do. And I feel the benefits working already.”

Adesanya lost his title at UFC 293 in September 2023 in a shocking upset against Sean Strickland, who then lost the belt to Du Plessis via split decision at UFC 297 this past January.