Dan Hooker and Israel Adesanya are two of City Kickboxing's most explosive fighters, and their sparring is still legendary. Ahead of Adesanya's UFC 276 title defense back in 2022, the former two-time UFC middleweight champion and Hooker, currently the number 8-ranked UFC lightweight in 2026, engaged in a devastating ground-and-pound session that fans said looked like a real fight, with Hooker lighting up Adesanya with crisp, painful shots. Even taking punishment on his back, Hooker kept talking trash, shouting at his teammate mid-exchange before Adesanya fired back with relentless ground strikes. The pair, both fighting out of Auckland's City Kickboxing gym, remain known for ferocious, high-intensity training in mixed martial arts.
A sparring clip from City Kickboxing's gym in Auckland has resurfaced among MMA fans, reigniting appreciation for a brutal 2022 training exchange between teammates Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker that many described at the time as looking more like a real fight than a practice session.
The footage, shot ahead of Adesanya's UFC 276 middleweight title defense, showed Hooker unleashing crisp ground-and-pound on his training partner, drawing the kind of reactions usually reserved for main event finishes. Even while absorbing punishment from his back, Hooker kept the trash talk flowing, shouting at Adesanya mid-exchange — who responded by raining down relentless ground strikes of his own.
Adesanya, 37, carries a 24-6 record and competes at middleweight out of City Kickboxing. Known as "The Last Stylebender," the Nigerian-born fighter stands six-foot-four with an 80-inch reach and lands 4.03 significant strikes per minute at 48 percent accuracy. A two-time UFC middleweight champion, he remains one of the sport's most technically refined strikers.
Hooker, nicknamed "The Hangman," is 36 years old and holds a 24-15 record in the lightweight division. The New Zealander stands six feet tall with a 75-inch reach and is one of the more active strikers in his weight class, landing 4.82 significant strikes per minute, also at 48 percent accuracy. He adds a physical, grounded edge to his game, averaging 0.67 takedowns per 15 minutes.
Why it matters
- Both fighters share a switch stance and near-identical striking accuracy, making their sparring a rare mirror-match scenario
- The clip is a window into City Kickboxing's famously intense training culture, which has produced multiple UFC champions
- Hooker's willingness to absorb and fire back even in a gym setting reflects the mentality that has kept him competitive at the highest level of the lightweight division
