You can almost feel the grimace in Dan Hooker's voice, as the Kiwi UFC warrior recounts the final moments of that fateful second round against Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas last weekend.
After taking the upperhand in the opening round, Hooker's crescendo in a glorious opera of technical violence seemed just seconds away, as he unleashed a torrent of shots on the wilting, fence-bound American, who had no answer to the assault.
"I had him dead in the water," Hooker tells Newshub. "He wasn't firing back.
"I threw my chips across the table and I was looking for the finish, looking for the kill. That's what you could see there."
Hooker threw caution to the wind, as he sensed a career-changing victory in his grasp, but 'The Diamond' was able to survive those final few seconds of the round and was saved by the hooter.
"Falling into my instincts, I smelled blood and I took a risk. It was a risk to try and get him out of there.
"It was a risk to stand my ground and let my hands go, and let my knees go and try to get the finish.
"I could feel he was going down, but it is what it is. We'll never know."
That proved the definitive moment in the contest. Entering the third round, the tide turned in Porier's favour, as Hooker - gas tank depleted - managed to stay in the fight, but ultimately fell to a unanimous decision loss.
It was a prime example of the often cruel game of inches that defines mixed martial arts, where a step one way or a head movement the other can be the difference between glory and defeat - not to mention thousands of dollars.
"It's definitely not a risk that I'd take back. I almost had it, I got the taste of it.
"I went all in and took a risk, and had I knocked him out in the end of the round, we'd all be talking about me winning
"I definitely wouldn't do anything different. I've got no no regrets with the fight - that's just the way it played out.
"I felt like I was moments away from getting the finish, but them's the breaks. The round ended and he did an outstanding job of recovering."
As far as a loss goes, you'd struggle to script it better. Hooker's performance in one of the greatest lightweight fights in history - and a leading candidate for Fight of the Year - furthered his reputation for show-stealing fights and cemented his standing as one of the division's elite.
"I know that my stock didn't go anywhere, which is always a good thing," says Hooker.
"In terms of losses, this is kind of the best-case scenario. It's pretty unheard of."
After his razor-close win over Paul Felder in February - also in the running for Fight of the Year - plenty of doubters and colleagues had questioned whether Hooker deserved the company of a fighter of a former interim lightweight champion Poirier's pedigree.
The fight had the MMA world collectively agasp, and served up some healthy portions of humble pie for fighters and pundits. Most notable of those was current interim champion Justin Gaethje, who renounced his pre-fight statement that Poriier would "merk" the Kiwi by confessing that Hooker "definitely deserves a seat at the big dog table".
"I knew coming into the fight that it was not really a lose/lose situation for me, because I knew, even with a loss, that it would be something like that - that it would be a Fight of the Night, it'd be a $50,000 bonus and get the fans talking."
Much to the dismay of his cornermen - City Kickboxing cohorts Eugene Bareman, Mike Angove and Andrei Paulet - Hooker admits the final few rounds saw the pre-fight plan swiftly discarded.
"My game plan was what was going on in the first round, when I was able to control it. That was pretty straightforward - keeping him at range and moving away from his power, and not just standing in front of him and exchanging punches, which I fell into in the second.
"Dustin started getting a bit more aggressive and he tagged me a couple of times, and that's when I kind of threw the gameplan out of the window."
"I lost my temper a bit, and started winging back and standing my ground, which didn't get the best response from the crowd."
But it's that primal, no-holds-barred approach that makes Hooker's fights such spectacles.
"That's just how I am as a fighter. That's a hard thing for me to switch off and keep control of really.
"I've got a bit of a temper on me - it's not that hard to set it off and get my blood boiling. Bad for my win ratio, but the fans seem to love it."
On the stool following the fourth round, Bareman made it clear to his fighter that the fifth round would be critical to his chances of winning. Reflecting on that final stanza, where Poirier was able to ram home his advantage, Hooker is philosophical.
"That's what my corner was telling me and I did what I could with what I had.
"A few scrambles didn't go my way… he had a submission attempt that I had to defend, which left me on stuck on the bottom and out of juice, and that's just the way it is.
"I didn't leave anything out there - I didn't play it safe in the last round. I put my foot to the floor and I emptied the tank, and whatever happened, happened."
Before the fight, Hooker identified that one of Poirier's most dangerous attributes was his familiarity with and ability to fight five rounds, and that ultimately proved a significant factor in deciding the outcome.
Adjusting to those extra two rounds that come with main events and title bouts is a fine art in itself, Hooker says.
"I definitely felt that experience. It's a funny thing switching from three to five rounds - it's a whole different sport.
"It's funny that your entire career is spent fighting the three - and then you add an extra 15 minutes. It's like having a rugby game and then for the world champs, they double the amount of time you have to play.
"I have a whole new level of respect for five rounds and that's only going to help me going forward in the future with main events. I took away a lot from that."
Understandably for a fan favourite like Hooker, the lack of a crowd and the eerie silence in the UFC Apex wasn't for him and may have impacted his performance.
"I didn't like it," he admits. "It was more like sparring - there was a lot less focus.
"Usually, the crowd is so overwhelming that you need to intensify your focus on the fight so much, but there was no crowd, just me and Dustin talking shit to each other. It was a weird situation and I probably wasn't as focused as I should've been.
"It made me miss the fans… that was an incredible fight, but it's hard to tell when you're in there. If the fans were there, I'm sure they would have been screaming their lungs out, so it might have gone even a bit crazier with the fans there."
So, where to next for Hooker?
Streaking Brazilian Charles Oliveira has been at the forefront of those discussions, but former interim champion Tony Ferguson looms as the most tantalising option for Hooker and fight fans alike.
Fresh off his first loss in over eight years, the awkwardly lethal Ferguson is the kind of stepping stone that leads right back to title contention.
"Tony, I feel, is realistic and it's the best case scenario for me," Hooker states.
"I'd be over the moon with a crack at him and I think from the response I've got from the fans is that's the fight they want to see too."
Despite his recent loss, the Aucklander likely remains just a couple of wins away from a crack at the belt.
"That's the funny thing about it - I feel like a win over Oliveira or Ferguson puts me right back in there.
"I think anyone that gets a win over Ferguson is right there. He just lost the interim title and he's a bit of a bogeyman of the division.
"It'll be hard to beat him and not be in title contention."
But for now, Hooker's most immediate challenge is controlling his restlessness to get through the rest of his quarantine period.
"It's kind of like a forced rest and I suck at resting," he laughs. "I'd probably be back in the gym by now.
"It will probably make me even hungrier to be honest."
