More Sports ES Fancast Jul 16, 2024 | 2:23 AM EDT Matching Pereira’s weight—Is Adesanya taking his rivalry to a whole new level? Israel Adesanya has been going on a spree where he shocks the MMA world in quite an impressive way.anitta-br.com We can bet that the announcement of his fight against Dricus Du Plessis to settle the ‘real African’ debate had you jumping around with excitement. But this time, the shocker came from Dan Hooker. Earlier in July, Adesanya asked the UFC head honcho, Dana White, for a favor. He took hold of the mic at the UFC 305 press conference and asked for ‘The Hangman’ to be put on the card. The two have been training together for quite a while now. Fighting in the same card, was a move to further strengthen their friendship. But did you know that despite being a training partner for Adesanya, Hooker doesn’t even want to spar with him? No, no, no… there is no rivalry cooking at their gym. But ‘The Hangman’ was pretty impressed with the former middleweight champ’s physique and newfound strength. He was simply scared of sparring with ‘The Last Stylebender’. Talking to ‘Submission Radio’, Hooker said, “I can’t even bother sparring with him at the moment. Like the way he’s hitting me. I think he’s like 105 kilos…” A post shared by Submission Radio (@submissionradio) ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Israel Adesanya matching Alex Pereira’s weight? This is just insane! React! Reactions ‘The hangman’ continued, “He’s like he’s had some time off, he was carrying some injuries. He spent a lot of time just packing on some size and, and like a lot of strength bro. And he’s just, he’s just hitting like a truck man. I can’t even be bothered sparring him. Like, he’s he’s hitting too hard.” As a joke, he said that one was up for a rude awakening for trying to raid the former champ’s fridge. As hilarious as the joke might sound, Hooker’s words did not convince the fighting community. Let’s see what the fight fans had to say about Hooker’s words. As soon as the footage of Hooker’s interview found its way to Instagram, the fighting community took over the comments section with their thoughts. Hooker’s claim that Adesanya was 105 kilos, which is around 231 pounds, wasn’t well accepted by the fans. The netizens had begun to suspect that the middleweight had gained some muscle and weight, thanks to a training video Adesanya shared on social media. But 230 lbs was a bit too much. A fan wrote, “if the sparring footage is recent I’d guess at most he’s 210 pounds. 230 is just crazy.” ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad A few of the fans wrote, “Lying lying lying,” while others simply denied it. The fighting community also pulled in Adesanya’s former rival, Alex Pereira. Not too long ago, the Brazilian made a move to the light heavyweight category and took over the champion’s mantle there. Pereira was indeed a giant when he last fought Jiri Prochazka. However, people could not see Adesanya being the same weight as Pereira anymore. This speculation was made with respect to the Brazilian’s dense bones and wide physique. One of the fans wrote, “105 kg is 231 lbs, which is complete horse***t. That’s nearly how much Alex Pereira weighs in the cage at LHW. Izzy is no where near that big.” Another fan commented, “His bones are not thick. Alex Pereira walks around 238 and weighs about 230 on fight night (in the cage) at LHW. No way in hell Izzy is as big as Poatan.” Needless to say, some fans gave a personal touch to the discussion, but the outcome was the same. A comment read, “yeah that’s crazy. I’m an inch taller than him, no way he weighs 12 kgs more than me.” ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Nevertheless, ‘The Last Stylebender’ wasn’t left without support. A couple of fans believed Hooker. “Seems fair at the beginning of camp probably 220-230 because all the time off and size he put on if you follow Izzy he’s the biggest he’s ever been rn,” read a comment. With increasing weight, the fighters often have to compromise on agility and speed. Without a doubt, the fans were clear about it. A fan commented, “Hope he still has his speed.” Do you think Hooker was speaking the truth about Adesanya’s size? Let us know what you think in the comments down below. EssentiallySports is a digital-first sports media house that surfaces the best stories on America’s favorite sports celebrities with a fan’s perspective to 30+ M average monthly readers. 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