Adesanya's training partner, Hooker believes it will be an easy fight for his friend at UFC 253: 'It will be a ride'

D. Hooker (left) bets on I. Adesanya (right) show at UFC 253. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

With just a few days left until the long-awaited fight between Israel adesanya e Paulo borrachinha, valid by UFC 253, in Abu Dhabi, takes place, the statements further increase expectations for the duel. If the protagonists of the middleweight title fight (83,9kg) heated up the atmosphere, the members of their teams did not disappoint either. This time, Dan Hooker, the champion's training partner, gave his opinion on the duel.

To the North American website Submission Radio, fourth in the lightweight rankings (70,3kg)) does not agree with the idea that the main fight of the event will be a war and is betting on Adesanya's outing. Furthermore, Hooker considers other midfielders to be more dangerous than the Brazilian.

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“Adesanya wins. This is the easiest fight of the night. He's going to hit Paulo a lot. It will be a monologue! Paulo is a big, muscular and slow striker. If I had to imagine an opponent who would fight poorly against Adesanya, he would certainly have these characteristics: big, strong, with limited striking and who always moves forward, willing to receive blows. I bet Adesanya will knock him out in the third, fourth or fifth round. I don't think Paulo belongs in the realm of Adesanya and Whittaker. Whittaker, Cannonier and Hermansson are tougher fights for Adesanya than Paulo,” Hooker said.

Regarding the rivals' surprising meeting, which went viral on social media, Hooker denied that the atmosphere between them was friendly.

“I didn’t think the meeting was very friendly. I know Adesanya and he was just poking the bear, calling him skinny and Paulo didn't have much to say. I feel like it was Adesanya who sought the meeting and Paulo tried to minimize the situation. It’s difficult to read facial expressions and intensity when wearing masks,” he concluded.

Dan Hooker train with Israel adesanya e Alexander Volkanovsky, UFC middleweight and featherweight (65,8kg) champions, respectively, at the City Kickboxing gym and, despite not being number one in his category, he is the team captain.