Christopher Reeve: The start of a great exodus? Why New Zealand’s Top Athletes Go Abroad

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Everyone has a breaking point – and it looks like New Zealand’s top athletes are starting to hit the nail on the head.

UFC Kiwi lightweight contender Dan Hooker revealed this week that he and members of Auckland City
Kickboxing gyms, including UFC champion Israel Adesanya, discussed the logistics of packing and moving their operations to the United States.

Why? Because they are tired of jumping through hoops so they can do their job.

Hooker is the best example. In January, he traveled to Abu Dhabi for one of the biggest fights of his career. He lost disastrously and, to make matters worse, he couldn’t return home for five weeks because he had the oldest MIQ voucher he could get.

Last weekend at UFC 266, Hooker solidified his status as one of the UFC’s top-ranked lightweights against unranked German contender Nasrat Huckparst – a fight he prompted matchmakers to l ‘UFC to book because he was supposed to be on the cards this weekend in Las Vegas. , because that was around the time he managed to get a good MIQ.

So instead of having the luxury of finding a fight more suited to his placement in promotion to the UFC at a later date, Hooker has done little more to do his job and support his family.

After a well-documented struggle to move to the United States due to visa issues, Hooker told media in Las Vegas that a move to the United States “has to happen.”

“We have definitely discussed it as a team now. A lot of people are talking about it, thinking about it – I really think about it myself – making a move in the United States, Hooker said.

“Now we are just planning the logistics. It’s going to be left to our coaches and we won’t make any decisions, but it looks like the family and I are going to go to the United States with the team.

“The latter was just getting a little crazy. The fights before that, same thing: lockout during the fight camp, staying up after two months, then it just took the cake.

UFC middleweight champion Adesanya, who has also indicated his desire to move to the United States, pointed out the struggle and utter disregard that many athletes across the country have with the MIQ system as they all fight with it. thousands of Kiwis abroad, Those who want to go home, when places are reserved for Bangladesh and Netherlands cricket teams, England netball team and New Zealand rugby teams.

If you don’t like rugby, cricket, or netball, you’re stuck in the pool with everyone. The government couldn’t find a way to secure group bookings for the Warriors, who spent two years away from home representing the country. The Warriors have already committed to spending the next NRL season in Australia.

Athletes are now forced to make the decision to travel abroad without MIQ vouchers to compete. Kiwi surfer Billy Steyrmand is in that position, leaving his wife at home to compete in the World Surf League Challenger Series and provide for their family. One of his many stories is where this decision must be made.

But if it wasn’t already on the minds of the country’s athletes, Hooker’s revelation that his team are trying to get away from New Zealand could be the start of a bigger exodus. For athletes who need to be abroad to compete, if you cannot return to New Zealand after your competition, there is no reason to be based here in terms of career opportunities.

The odd thing is that the MIQ system worked relatively well at first and people could go back in time a bit. Now no one can even look inside.

If there is no indication that fully vaccinated people will be able to self-isolate at home upon return to New Zealand to take effect in the coming months, don’t be surprised to learn that your favorite athlete is considering moving. . . country to survive in a world that would otherwise continue without them.