Dan Hooker Accidentally Leaks Israel Adesanya’s UFC Return Date After Foiling Hunter Campbell’s Plan

After Israel Adesanya revealed that he isn’t considering waiting till 2027, fans started speculating as to when ‘The Last Stylebender’ would make his UFC return. Some say Adesanya could fight for the title next, but the date remained unknown. However, his teammate Dan Hooker may have just spilled the beans on the former middleweight champion’s return.

Israel Adesaya’s been pretty active on social media, assessing fights on his YouTube channel, but has never mentioned anything about his return. But it seems like matchmaker Hunter Campbell may have some plans and he isn’t going to give it away easily to the media. But that’s where Dan Hooker came in and hinted that Adesanya and he could be fighting on the same card.

Dan Hooker talks about the return of Israel Adesanya

The UFC is returning to Perth once against at the RAC Arena later this year. The pay-per-view in question will be UFC 305, and apparently, the promotion had no plans for lightweight contender Dan Hooker, who lives in Australia’s neighboring country of New Zealand. That appeared to upset ‘Hangman’ as he was in a bad spot.

“For some reason, something was going on behind the scenes when they didn’t want me to fight on that card,” said Dan Hooker during an interview with Combat TV NZ. However, he would not stop from urging the UFC execs, including Hunter Campbell, to secure the spot at UFC 305 and fight in a venue where he could put up a performance for what is almost his home crowd.

“They were like trying to push me to later… later in the year, but I was just like… I want it on Perth, so I kind of stood my ground on that.” But the fact that UFC 305 is taking place in Australia is not the only reason why he wants to compete in that PPV. In actuality, his teammates Kai Kara-France and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will also reportedly feature on that card. Dan Hooker wants to join them as well.

“I just wanna be on that date. You know, Kai’s on it, Izzy’s on it, like, I wanted to have fun,” Dan Hooker added. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, Israel Adesnya could consider one suggestion his arch-rival Alex Pereira made about fighting on the same card. Let’s have a look at that front.

Alex Pereira is ready to fight under ‘The Last Stylebender’

Yep, you’ve heard it right. Alex Pereira has proposed the idea of him fighting, possibly in a card headlined by Israel Adesanya. And which PPV do you think he’s talking about? Well, the obvious answer is UFC 305. The light heavyweight champion is currently enjoying his time in Down Under, and when he appeared in an interview there, he expressed his urge to fight in front of the Australian crowd on August 18th.

“[Fighting in Perth] would be fantastic, even more so now, feeling the warmth from all the fans, the crowd and the good people. Imagine me doing a fight here. It makes me very happy,” Alex Pereira told ‘The Herald Sun’. He’s been in Australia to watch a UFC fight, Israel Adesanya’s fight against Anderson Silva, but has never had the opportunity to compete. Is UFC 305 going to be Pereira’s Australian debut? We don’t know that yet.

So far, the UFC has kept their mouths sealed on talking about any plans regarding Israel Adesanya. But given that he has been away for a while, UFC 305 may just be the date he returns. What do you think? Is Adesanya making his return, as per Dan Hooker’s statement? Drop your comments below.