Hooker And Felder Take Part In Traditional Maori Greeting

Hooker — who hails from New Zealand — explains the tradition of the Maori — who are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand — a bit more.

“The Maori is a place of peace. You can’t bring any tension like that to a Maori. It would be incredibly disrespectful of me to push him or shove him or disrespect him in any way and deny the hongi,” he added.

“I am a man of respect and I had to give the hongi because I respect the Maori culture so much and I respect the people, this is their land and their culture. So you have to abide by it I have too much respect for the Maori culture to do anything silly or disrespect.”

Also on hand to take part in the tradition was current UFC Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, as well as Featherweight king, Alexander Volkanovski.

The showdown between “The Hangman” and “The Irish Dragon” is a pivotal one, as it could get the victor a bit closer to the title.

To see who else is fighting at UFC Fight Night 168: “Felder vs Hooker” — which streams exclusively on ESPN+ — click here.