Paul Felder stepped out of the broadcast booth and into enemy territory at UFC Auckland Saturday night.
The #7 Hooker looked to stamp his place in the division against #6 Felder, and apparently had some ill will heading into the fight. Ahead of the opening bell, Hooker refused to touch gloves with Felder.
That changed by the end of the fight, when the two hugged after a back-and-forth war over the course of five rounds. The split decision went to Hooker, which garnered a thunderous ovation from the Auckland crowd. Hooker then called out Justin Gaethje.
After the fight, Felder said it might be the end of his career. He cited his four-year old child at home missing him when he goes away.
Elsewhere on the show, #14 Karolina Kowalkiewicz continued her slow descent down the rankings. Upstart Yan Xiaonan dominated the former title challenger with relative ease on her way to a unanimous decision victory.
The only other ranked fighter to compete on the paper-thin show was #8 Kai-Kara France, who earned a unanimous decision win over Tyson Nam on the prelim card.
Jimmy Crute isn't ranked, but probably will be after becoming the star of the UFC Auckland show. He quickly tapped out Michal Oleksiejczuk. The 23-year old has now won three of four in the UFC, with three big finishes. He called for a rematch with Misha Cirkunov, who beat him in September.
You can see our full coverage of UFC Auckland at this link.