A lightweight fight between Paul Felder and Dan Hooker will headline UFC Fight Night 169 in Auckland, New Zealand on February 23rd.
Felder has won his last five fights in a row at lightweight, beating a string of notable opponents along the way.
That’s included a KO win over Stevie Ray, a TKO stoppage against Charles Oliveira and then decision victories over James Vick and Edson Barboza that has left him ranked No.6 in the division.
It should be noted that he does have one loss during that run, but that came during a brief move up to welterweight back in July of last year when he came out on the wrong end of a split decision verdict against Mike Perry.
Now he’ll go up against Hooker, who will be fighting in his own hometown, and like Felder he’s been on a good run of form for some time now at 155lbs, winning six of his last seven fights there.
Impressively he’s also finished five of those six fights inside the distance, including a KO win against Ross Pearson, followed by a submission finish when he faced Marc Diakiese, then a string of first round knockout victories against Jim Miller, Gilbert Burns and James Vick, not to mention a decision win over Al Iaquinta last time out.
He does also have a TKO loss to Edson Barboza back in December of last year, but his form overall has taken him to No.7 in the division, just one place behind Felder.
