Paul Felder says firing up Dan Hooker guarantees fireworks for fans at UFC Auckland

Paul Felder isn’t quite sure why Dan Hooker is taking this fight so personally, but thinks it will all result in a more entertaining for the fans anyway.

Felder and Hooker will both headline their first UFC show when they throw down at UFC on ESPN+ 26 in Auckland. It represents a trip into enemy territory for “The Irish Dragon,” who will be facing “The Hangman” in his home town.

Felder (17-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) posted some images poking fun at Hooker’s last name, which Hooker found offensive. He thinks Felder crossed the line, but for Felder the bad blood is a one-way street.

“Nope, totally on him,” Felder told MMA Junkie. “I don’t give a (expletive) to be honest with you. I’m here for one reason, and it’s to put on a fist fight and get that win on Sunday. This whole stuff was fun for me. I was joking around, but I’ve said it one hundred times now: We’re fist fighting. It doesn’t matter if he likes me, he’s going to try and hurt me regardless. It can be whatever it needs to be. It’ll be more fun for the fans this way.

“Maybe he’s really offended. I don’t know either way. He doesn’t obviously have thick skin for this kind of stuff, but it wasn’t my intention to insult his surname and his family. It was never my goal. It was just having fun. He did tell me he was going to smash my face in first, so I didn’t take too kindly of that either but, like I said, we’re fighting. We’re professional fighters, and no matter how much we like each other or don’t like each other, when the door closes on Sunday we’re going to be trying to beat the (expletive) out of each other.”

On paper, the matchup certainly sells itself, with two of the most exciting, in-form lightweights on the UFC roster going head to head. And while Felder is impressed with Hooker’s recent performances, he sees areas in his game that he can exploit.

“(I’m) impressed by his calmness and his timing,” Felder said. “I think he stays very relaxed, he sets up his shots. He’s not exactly the fastest lightweight out there, especially coming off a fight where I fought Edson (Barboza) last. It’s probably one of the fastest guys I’ve ever dealt with in my life, but I’m impressed with his timing, and with timing and placement comes power, and you see that in a lot of his fights.

“But obviously I see holes, and I see weaknesses, and I think they’re in all the areas that I’m really strong. I’m going to be able to put on a pace for this fight that you guys haven’t seen yet.”