Speculations of Israel Adesanya fighting Dricus Du Plessis are on the rise. After sharing some heated words on social media, the mixed martial artists began dropping hints at fighting each other at UFC 305. Du Plessis previously claimed that Adesanya would be his next opponent as the New Zealander began intensive training. Finally, Dan Hooker, a fellow countryman to ‘The Last Stylebender,’ recently confirmed that Adesanya would return to the Octagon at UFC Perth.

Earlier, Adesanya himself dropped the biggest hint of him returning to the UFC to fight Du Plessis. He shared a training video wherein he conditioned his body. But people who follow the 34-year-old former boxer knew why he was training with such intensity, right? But before we do a recap, let’s see what Hooker had to say. 

Hooker was recently interviewed by Sky Sports, wherein he declared that he and his fellow countrymen would indeed fight at UFC 305. He named Adesanya and Kai Kara-France as the two other fighters who would participate in the event. “We’ll be in Perth with the boys, and I think yeah, from looking around the gym, obviously, there’s talks that Israel… it will be myself, Israel, and Kai coming up at UFC Perth. So yeah, I’ve got my eyes on Perth,” said the UFC lightweight contender.

He further revealed that he couldn’t fight in UFC 303, where Conor McGregor would make a return to the UFC to fight against Michael Chandler because he did not get an opponent. Hence, Hooker laid his eyes on Perth. 

Without a doubt, the mixed martial artist expressed his excitement at the thought of training alongside his teammates at the Australian gym. Hooker exclaimed, “It’ll be exciting! It’ll be fun being in the gym with Izzy, it’ll be fun being in the gym with Kai, and all getting able to prepare together. I’ve got a mild hint at an opponent, but we’ll have to save that for another day, I believe.” 

Although Hooker declared that he didn’t know about who he would fight, the same could not be said about Adesanya. Given the rising heat between Du Plessis and the former middleweight champion, the world of mixed martial arts has speculated that those two would definitely land against each other at UFC 305. To solidify the speculations, Adesanya had also provided Dana White with a green light. And needless to say, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has begun training hard for it.

‘The Last Stylebender’ versus ‘Stillnocks’: The fight to become the ‘real African’

Back when Adesanya was the middleweight titleholder, Du Plessis called him out and challenged Adesanya’s African heritage. Without a doubt, the heat between the two began to rise. But soon, Adesanya lost his belt to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. Thereafter, ‘Stillnocks,’ aiming at the belt, took on Strickland and defeated him via decision at UFC 297.

But now, as the heat emerged again, ‘Izzy’ began dropping hints, including one recently on YouTube, where he was training for the upcoming fight. The intensity of his training said it all. However, all that the mixed martial arts fans needed was confirmation. Now that Hooker finally said it, the excitement is indeed palpable. 

But what do you think? Will Adesanya reclaim his championship belt? Or will Du Plessis successfully defend the middleweight title? Let us know in the comments down below.