Felder: NZ’s new UFC villain
American veteran Paul Felder has waited a long time to star in a UFC main event.
So when the opportunity arose to headline a card, the lightweight contender was never going to be picky about the location, regardless if it was on the other side of the world.
There’s unlikely to be a more unpopular man in Auckland on February 23 than Felder as he takes on hometown hero Dan Hooker at UFC Fight Night at Spark Arena, with local fans eager to see the Kiwi star extend his unbeaten home record and edge closer to a title shot.
Ranked one place above Hooker (20-8) in the division at sixth, Felder (17-4) has just as much at stake. But not only is he confident of not being intimidated by stepping into a hostile environment, he welcomed it.
‘‘I want to be in these fights that will move me forward, get me closer to these title shots and this is something that I think you’ve got to do,’’ Felder said.
‘‘You’ve got to prove that you can go into enemy territory, get the job done against the hometown hero like him. And with a win in this fight it’s going to push one of us right towards that top three.’’
Hooker has featured in the UFC’s two previous events in Auckland and stole the show each time.
In 2014, ‘The Hangman’ virtually blew the roof off Spark Arena when, in his promotional debut, he stopped Ian Entwistle in the first round. It was a similar story three years later as he put Ross Pearson to sleep with a vicious knee.
Felder, though, has fought Brazilians in Brazil, Canadians in Canada and Scots in Scotland during his five years in the UFC, and has little trouble ignoring the screams for his head.
‘‘I can’t worry about 10,000 people at Spark Arena, I can’t control what’s going on out there. But what I can control is how I prepare myself for this fight and trying to finish Dan Hooker,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s all I need to be thinking about for the next 11 weeks that we have left.’’
The stage was set for an explosive showdown on Wednesday as the pair came faceto-face for an intense staredown ahead of tickets going on sale today. And on paper, it shapes as a extremely close matchup between two men with everything to fight for.