Dan Hooker reckons Israel Adesanya was trying to bait Dricus Du Plessis during heated confrontation at UFC 290

Dan Hooker believes Israel Adesanya was trying to bait Dricus Du Plessis during their heated confrontation at UFC 290.

UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker (23-12 MMA) believes his teammate, Israel Adesanya, was baiting Dricus du Plessis with his racial slur-filled tirade this past Saturday.

Hooker defeated Jalin Turner (13-7 MMA) in a lightweight bout at UFC 290 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

‘The Hangman’ is now 2 for 2 in his last two fights in the Octagon, as he beat Claudio Puelles (12-3 MMA) last November at UFC 281.

Following Dan Hookers’ victory Saturday night, it was Dricus Du Plessis’s (20-2 MMA) turn, getting in the cage with Robert Whittaker (25-7 MMA) in a middleweight bout which saw ‘DDP’ TKO ‘The Reaper’ at 2:23 of Round 2.

It was Adesanya who stepped into the Octagon following Du Plessis’ stoppage and proceeded to let loose a series of expletives. While the two didn’t come to blows, the language was ugly with racial undertones.

Following that incident, Adesanya doubled down on ‘Twitter’ tweeting:

“If you ain’t my brother, you ain’t African!! I will show you where you’re from.”

Dan Hooker when speaking with ‘TheMacLife‘ believes that Israel Adesanya was trying to bait ‘Stillknocks’:

“I reckon (he was). Say it enough times and it’s like ‘I am a..’ and it’s like ‘Whoa!’ And the fight’s canceled.”

Israel Adesanya (24-2 MMA) reclaimed the middleweight title by defeating Alex Pereira (7-2 MMA) in their UFC 287 rematch this past April. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is now expected to defend his title against Du Plessis possibly as soon as September of this year.

With his win this past Saturday, Du Plessis is on an 8 fight winning streak, and is undefeated since joining the UFC back in October of 2020.

Adesanya, 33, has 4 wins and 2 losses in his last 6 trips to the Octagon.

Are you looking forward to an Adesanya vs Du Plessis title fight?

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