[Live commentary has finished]
Wrap - Wow! What an afternoon of fights. CKB does it again and goes 3-0 on the night. The main event was a superb battle between two warriors. Paul Felder said after the fight that he may call it quits with a young baby at home and a commentating career that is on the rise. Hangman now moves up into the verge of the top five if not inside it and a marquee fight awaits the Kiwi later this year.
Main Event - Lightweight: Paul Felder (17-4) v Dan Hooker (20-8)
Result (Dan Hooker via split decision (48-47x2, 47-48)
Round 1 - Feeling out process to begin. Hangman landing leg kicks. Felder bringing the early pressure with Dan haooy to circle out of his offence. A Hooker jab bloodies Felder's nose. No big shots landed but Felder has a couple of nasty cuts. Tough to score the round but i'll lean to Hooker on more effective strikes. Newshub score - Hooker 10-9.
Round 2 - Things heated up at the end of the round when Felder landed a heavy shot to Hooker's jaw that seam to wake Dan up. They exchanged some heavy shots as the round wound down but Felder gets that for me. Newshub score - Felder 10-9.
Round 3 - Another razor close round. Hooker is landing the jab at will and Felder's face is a mess. But the American is still landing some heavy shots and his leg kicks have been effective. Newshub score - Hooker 10-9.
Round 4 - Felder landing more now .... a couple of big rights in that round. Dan's jab is still effective but Felder's power is serving him well. This is a very close fight folks. Felder the busier fighter in that round and he will take it for mine. Newshub score - Felder 10-9.
Round 5 - Great round for both guys. Dan's jab has destroyed Felder's face but Hangam ate some big shots in the final frame. Hooker scored a takedown with 60secs on the clock and rode the round out. Newshub score - Hooker 10-9 and the fight 48-47 but it could go either way.
3:13pm - Dan Hooker out to a thunderous roar from the crowd....Felder playing the heel coming out to Born in the USA! Nice.
3:06pm - Just going through the pre-fight hype .... should be readt to rumble in about five minutes.
2:59pm - Okay we are a few minutes away from our main event of the afternoon.
Light heavyweight - Jimmy Crute (10-1) v Michal Oleksiejczuk (14-3)
Result - Crute via submission (Kimura) Rnd 1
Round 1 - Crute throws a head kick to start the scores with a takedown..... Oleksiejczuk gets back to the feet after two minutes of control from Crute. Another takedown for Crute and he is working for a Kimura shoulder lock and Oleksiejczuk taps! Great win for Crute.
2:42pm - Co-Main Event time in the UFC Light heavyweight division
Women's strawweight - Karolina Kowalkiewicz (12-5) v Yan Xiaonan (11-1-1)
Result - Yan Xiaonan via unanimous decision (30-26x3)
Round 1 - Both girls coming out with intent. Very technical through the first three minutes with Xiaonan landing the heavier shots and beating Karolina to the punch. Xiaonan lands a nice judo throw but then stands back up.....Karolina struggling with her right eye. May have been a poke in there somewhere. Newshub score - Xiaonan 10-9.
Round 2 - Kowalkiewicz has her eye checked out by the doctor he gives her the all-clear, Xiaonan just overwhelming Karolina with her heavier strikes. Xiaonan gets another takedown to mix in with her striking barrage. Easy one to score. Newshub score - Xiaonan 10-9.
Round 3 - The power difference between these two is night and day. Xiaonan lands a front hook kick to the face ... Karolina shoots and rolls for a kneebar but she can't finish it. Xiaonan back on top in half guard where she will finish the fight. Total dominance. Newshub score - 10-9 Xiaonan and the fight 30-27.
2:11pm - Up next is what could be a very good women's strawweight bout.
Heavyweight - Ben Sosoli (7-2) v Marcos Rogerio de Lima (16-7-1)
Result - De Lima via KO Rnd 1
Round 1 - Both guys are looking for the knockout shot .... pretty ugly stuff but de Lima lands a couple of wofty hooks to the top of Sosoli's head and he gets the early KO.
1:41pm - Great fight performance from Brad Riddell .... he is a scary prospect at 155 and I can see him making a run into the rankings this year. This crowd is so loud it's crazy! Goosebumps!
Lightweight - Brad Riddell (7-1) v Magomed Mustafaev (13-2)
Result: Brad Riddell via split decision (29-28x2, 28-29)
Round 1 - Riddell drops Mustafaev with a massive right hand and is in for the kill but the Russian recovers quickly and looks for a leg lock. It's not there but Mustafaev gets top control. It's stalled the action as the Russian looks for control.....Riddell eventually up and seperates with 15secs on the clock. Tough to score. Newshub score - Riddell 10-9.
Round 2 - Riddell with the pressure and is landing nice leg kicks. Both willing to exchange in close quarters. Late in the round Mustafaev scores a takedown and has Riddell's back to end the round. These round are really hard to score. Newshub score - Mustafaev 10-9.
Round 3 - Riddell drops him for a second time and looks to finish but the Russian gets control. Crazy fight with the crowd going nuts everytime Riddell lands. Mustafaev is looking deperate but he cuts Riddell with an elbow. The fight ends with Riddell on top landing punches. Newshub score - Riddell 10-9 and the fight 29-28 but first two rounds were close.
1:11pm - Okay fighters making their way to the cage ... Riddell getting a huge ovation from his home crowd,
12:50pm - Not to far away from Kiwi Brad Riddell stepping into the cage.
Featherweight - Kevin Aguilar (17-2) v Zubaira Tukhugov (18-4-1)
Result - Tukhugov via TKO (Strikes) Rnd 1
Round 1 - Wow! Another 1st round stoppage. Really slow pace to start this one but everything changed about 4mins in when Tukhugov lands a huge left hook that floored Aguilar. The American is back up but not for long as he gets dropped with a one-two and Tukhugov follows up with vicious strikes on the ground. Referee Mark Goddard steps in and the fight is over.
12:27pm - Main card starts in a few minutes.
Lightweight - Jalin Turner (8-5-1) ( v Joshua Culibao (8-0)
Result - Turner via TKO (Strikes) Rnd 2
Round 1 - All Jalin Turner. His the much more rangier fighter and is lighting Culibao up with strikes .... he hurts him with a knee to the body and now looks to lock in a choke from half guard. He won't get it but he will get the round easily. Newshub score - Turner 10-9.
Round 2 - All Turner again and he gets the stoppage mercifully late in the second. He reversed a takedown attempt into a dominant top position. He gets full mount and smashed Culibao with strikes from the top and the referee eventually calls a stop to the action.
12:13pm - Just one more prelim left before we get to the main card.
Welterweight - Jake Matthews (14-4) v Emil Meek (9-4-1)
Result - Jake Matthews via unanimous decision (29-28x3)
Round 1 - Big round for Jake Matthews. He scores an early takedown and gets a little bit of top control. They stand back up and he floors Meek with huge left uppercut ... he jumps on Meek but he has recovered quickly and Matthews rides the round out on top for a possible 10-8. Newshub score - Matthews 10-8.
Round 2 - Crazy round. Matthews score the takedown early and gets the back. He can't find a submission and with a couple minutes on the clock Meek is back up and lands a huge knee that has Matthews hurt. Matthews lands a big spining elbow and then another takedown....Meek is back up as the round comes to and end and floors Matthews with a push kick. Tough to score but i'll give it to Meek. Newshub score - Meek 10-9.
Round 3 - Super close round .... Meek the aggressor and landing more but Matthews finished the round with a flurry. Could be a draw. Newshub score - Meek 10-9 and the fight a draw.
11:41am - Two more prelim fights to fill the next hour or so before the main card kicks off at 1pm.
Welterweight - Callan Potter (18-8) v Song Kenan (14-5)
Result: Song Kenan via KO Rnd 1
Round 1 - Second first round stoppage of the night. Kenan to powerful and too good with his hands gets the job done midway through the round dropping Potter with a big right and then followed up with a few shots on the ground before the referee stepped in.
11:22am - Great performance from the Kiwi ... he was backing up for the majority but he landed the cleaner shots throughout and the crowd reactions to those shots may have had some influence on the judges. But he was the better man for sure.
Flyweight - Kai Kara-France (20-7) v Tyson Nam (18-9)
Result: Kai Kara-France via unanimous decision (30-27x3)
Round 1 - Slow pace to this one with most of the action coming with the final exchange. Kai landed some crisp jabs, while Nam worke the body well. Tough to score that and it could go either way .... Newshub score - 10-9 Kara-France.
Round 2 - Kai landing cleaner shots in that round...Nam walking forward but no producing the offence. Nam finishes the round well though and may have snuck that one. Newshub score - 10-9 Nam.
Round 3 - Great round from Kara-France. He backed Nam up with a lively one-two and landed some heavy shots in close and a big takedown. Nam scored a couple takedowns late but it might not be enough. Newshub score - 10-9 Kara-France and the fight 29-29
10:50am - Up next the first of the Kiwis will be in action - CKB's Kai Kara-France.
10:47am - The was great fight. Hill on a 3-0 run now which should find her ranked come next week.
Women's strawweight - Loma Lookboonmee (3-1) v Angela Hill (11-7)
Result: Hill via unanimous decision (29-28x2, 30-27)
Round 1 - Very close round with Hill pressure fighting. Lookboonmee landed a couple of very heavy leg kciks but Hill was effective with her hands and scored a lake takedown to take the round for mine. Newshub score - 10-9 Hill.
Round 2 - Another super close round. Hill wasn't as agressive and got hit more than she did on the first ... she did land some effective shots in the clinch but got taken down midway through the round...she almost secured an arm bar but the Thai fighter fought it off. Newshub score - 10-9 Lookboonmee.
Round 3 - Wow. Grraet fight. Super close all three rounds. Hill did enough in the last with her pressure and jabs to win that round and the fight 29-28 for me. Newshub score - 10-9 Hill and the fight 29-28.
10:22am - Next up is a women's strawweight fight - fighters on their way out to the Octagon.
Women's flyweight - Priscila Cachoeira (4-5) v Shana Dobson (3-2)
Result - Cachoeira via KO Rnd 1
Round 1 - And just like that it's over before it starts .... both girls trade with Cachoeira the agressor. Dobson getting backed up and the Brazilian lands a huge uppercut that send Dobson crashing to the floor ... a few follow up punches and the referee stops the fight inside 90 seconds.
10:03am - First fight about to get underway ..... Bruce Buffer with the ring introductions.
Hello folks and welcome to Newshub's coverage of UFC Fight Night Auckland live from Spark Arena.
The main event features a lightweight title eliminator between American Paul Felder and Auckland's own Dan 'The Hangman' Hooker.
In all, four Kiwis will hit the cage this afternoon including two of Hooker's City Kickboxing teammates, Brad Riddell and Kai Kara-France.
The other New Zealander in action is Sydney based Ben Sosoli.
Check out the latest episode of New Zealand's only combat sports podcast - Fight Club.
Pre-fight banter: Master coach Eugene Bareman lays out Hooker v Felder
For someone with a reputation for meticulous attention to detail, the questionable study habits of City Kickboxing sensei Eugene Bareman as a scholar come as a surprise.
"When I was at university, I was definitely a cramming type of student," Bareman tells Newshub, with a laugh. "I plan things out a lot better when it comes to this."
Bareman is referring to the portfolio of gameplans - the blueprints that he and his fellow trainers believe are the most effective path to victory - he's assembled in preparation for a busy upcoming campaign for his star pupils.
At Sunday's UFC Auckland, the head trainer will make the walk to the Octagon on three separate occasions, accompanying Kai Kara-France, Brad Riddell and finally Dan Hooker for the marquee act against American Paul Felder.
Not to mention Australian-based promotion Eternal's event on Friday, also in Auckland, where a handful of his fighters will also be in the action.
Then, in just a fortnight's time at UFC 248 in Las Vegas, there's Israel Adesanya's maiden world-title defence to scheme for.
Bareman's systematic filing of past and present gameplans comes into its own at times like this.
Rather than creating each from scratch, he'll pick and choose certain aspects from his vault of past performances and tweak them according to that particular fighter's next opponent, whose strength and weaknesses have already been under the microscope through hours of review of their previous fights.
"When you do this for so many years, you're able to reference back to different scenarios and gameplans, different fights where you put a specific strategy in place. You're able to pull that out and kind of recycle it, if you like.
"It also helps if you've been with the fighter for a long time, because aspects of the gameplan, he perhaps would've already been through already. You can extrapolate what you need and apply them, which is easier, because they already have familiarity with it.
"Sometimes, you're adding new stuff, but for the most part it's pulling out old stuff."
That approach has helped establish Bareman and City Kickboxing team as one of the pre-eminent gyms on the planet.
Already the headquarters of UFC champions Adesanya and Australian Alexander Volkanovski, the next cab off that rank is Hooker.
Sitting seventh in the lightweight division's official rankings, 'The Hangman' is right on the cusp of the title picture and faces his sternest challenge yet against sixth-ranked Felder on home soil this weekend.
'The Irish Dragon' (17-4) is a well-rounded, highly technical, aggressive and uncompromising combatant - a difficult puzzle to solve for anyone in the upper echelon of the UFC's most talented weight class.
While Bareman has some "very interesting stuff" that he's concocted for Felder, but is not willing to share in this article (for obvious reasons), he does identify a couple of key areas where he believes Hooker needs to shine to secure a win.
"We have to incentivise Paul to put pressure on. If we don't check that pressure, if we don't let him know that, he can just have his way and control the territory.
"And if he wants to control the territory, then he's going to have to fight for it and take damage. If we can let him know that, that's where the fight's going to be decided."
This type of match-up could be decided by inches and Hooker''s attention to detail may well prove the difference.
"Dan has to have all his T's crossed and his I's dotted," says Bareman. "He has to come into the night at 100 percent.
"Anything less is not going to be favourable for him. It's that type of fight.
"It's not the kind of fight where Dan can get away with performing at 80 percent and still pull off a win. If he does perform at 80 percent, he's not going to come away with the win.
"He has to come in with absolutely every aspect fine-tuned - mental, physical, everything."
The encouraging news for Kiwi fight fans is that's exactly what Bareman has seen in Hooker through fight camp so far.
Should Hooker emerge with his hand raised, not only does Bareman believe he'd be just a win shy of a title shot, It may also make him a potential injury replacement for champion Khabib Nurmagomedov's title defence against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 in April.
"He starts moving into a category where you can't deny him. You'd have to give him a shot.
"How about a scenario where, after he beats Paul, Conor McGregor stays at welterweight, Tony can't fight - who are you going to call? The only other fight is going to be Dan Hooker.
"He's moving into that category, so he's so close. He's so close."
Right up until it's time for his fighter to make his or her way into battle - be it a cacophonous Spark Arena or a West Auckland recreational centre - Bareman is doing his utmost to ensure their plan of attack is top of mind.
But don't confuse that with cramming. For Bareman and his cohorts, a fight-plan is a constantly evolving beast that is never truly complete. Expect that to be no different this weekend.
"I like to use every single moment that we have, literally right up to just before we walk out.
"That's not the old cramming Eugene, that's all reiteration. We use every moment before the fight to aid in our success."
Join us for live updates of UFC Auckland from 10am Sunday,
