Welcome to MMA News Today, a daily feature running down the most interesting stories in the world of mixed martial arts. For July 15, 2024, we’re taking a look at:
- Hooker says Adesanya sparring isn’t on his wish list right now
- Anik never lets his relationships affect his commentary
- Blaydes says he’s keeping things simple ahead of Aspinall rematch
Dan Hooker Says Israel Adesanya Is Hitting Too Hard For Them To Spar One Another
When Israel Adesanya returns at UFC 305 to try and recapture the middleweight title against Dricus Du Plessis, he will do so off the back of his longest break between fights since signing with the promotion.
“The Last Stylebender” decided to take some much-needed and well-earned time to regroup before jumping back inside the Octagon, following his loss to Sean Strickland.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, his City Kickboxing teammate Dan Hooker spoke about how Adesanya has been bulking up outside of training camp.
The lightweight contender, who has sparred with the former middleweight champion for a long time, said that his fellow New Zealander is starting to pack too much of a punch for him to trade shots with.
“I can’t even be bothered sparring him at the moment like the way he’s hitting. I think he’s like 105 kilos [around 230 pounds], I’m just like f******, kicked me in the leg and I was like ‘get f*****!’. He’s had some time off, he was carrying some injuries, he spent a lot of time just packing on some size and like a lot of strength bro and he’s hitting like a truck man. I can’t even be bothered sparring him… like he’s hitting too hard.”
Jon Anik Says Relationship With Belal Muhammad Won’t Affect His UFC 304 Commentary
It’s only natural for UFC commentators to have relationships and friendships with some of the fighters that are signed to the roster.
This is especially difficult in a sport like MMA where the highs are so high and the lows are so low but Jon Anik always looks to separate his work from his personal feelings.
At UFC 304, Anik’s friend Belal Muhammad will finally get his first shot at welterweight gold when he challenges Leon Edwards on July 27.
Anik spoke in a recent interview with InsideFighting about how he always looks to serve the moment and both fighters as best as he can, regardless of whether he has personal connections to them.
“No, I feel like once the athlete hits the tunnel, any of those types of feeling or emotions go away. As I’ve said repeatedly, Dominick Cruz is probably the guy I’m closest to, I mean Belal’s obviously right there on his heels as are other athletes.
“you establish a lot of interpersonal relationship and you can’t help that but it certainly doesn’t affect the call. I can assure you and everybody else if Leon Edwards head kicks Belal Muhammad into oblivion, my call is going to reflect that and there was nothing hard about me screaming with veins popping out of my mouth, ‘Stipe gets his revenge’, even though he did it against Daniel Cormier.”
Curtis Blaydes Isn’t Adjusting His Approach For Fighting Tom Aspinall At UFC 304
In the co-main event in Manchester, Tom Aspinall’s interim heavyweight title will be on the line when he faces Curtis Blaydes in a rematch.
Blaydes, who is now a 22-fight veteran, has faced the majority of the top names at heavyweight at this stage.
He spoke in an interview with the media during this past weekend’s UFC Fight Night in Denver, about how his approach to this fight is the same as always.
Rather than working specifically on his opponent’s approach, Blaydes simply looks to bring the best version of himself to England in order to come away with the win.
“Conditioning (has been the focus in camp). That’s the same old,” Blaydes said. “I don’t adjust for anyone. I have prepared for this fight the same way I prepare for everyone. I don’t like to add extra adjustments, extra things to think about. There’s already a whole lot, we don’t need to add anything else.
“Just a normal, standard fight camp,” Blaydes continued. “Eight weeks of sparring, drilling, running, icing; normal stuff.”
Read more on the story here.
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