UFC Auckland: Paul Felder promises fireworks in main event against Dan Hooker

Paul Felder will face Dan Hooker in the main event at UFC Auckland in February. Photo / Photosport

While it will remain to be seen exactly what happens when he meets Kiwi lightweight Dan Hooker at UFC Auckland in February, Paul Felder can assure fans of one thing.

"Someone's getting hurt, I can tell you that. There will be blood, there will be blood."

Felder and Hooker, ranked No 6 and 7 in the UFC lightweight division respectively, will face off in the main event of the UFC's return to Auckland on February 23 with more than simply another result on the line.

For both fighters, it will be their first headline fight on a card and it's an important step in their overall goal of being considered for a title shot in the near future.

"If you want to get toward that title fight, I think one of the steps you've got to take is to main event something; to show you can headline something, you can sell it, you can be what they want to push toward that title fight," Felder told the Herald. "If you're just a boring fighter, can't sell anything and don't know how to hype it up, nobody wants to buy your product.

"Me and him are both guys that a hungry right now to show that we are the calibre of person that can be fighting for that belt and when you put two guys like that in the cage together and know there's potential title implications on the line, you're going to get the best out of them."

In a combined 48 professional fights, the Philadelphia native and Hooker boast 28 wins by stoppage with 20 knockouts, with 15 of the pair's combined 26 UFC bouts ending before the final bell.

"For this fight, you've basically got two guys who are immovable objects that want to collide against each other. It's just going to make for one hell of a main event here in New Zealand; this is going to be one that people talk about as fight of the year.

"I think people are happy to have me here. I think if somebody was going to come and challenge him, people are excited that it's me. They know my style; they know what I'm going to bring to this fight. No matter what happens on February 23, it's going to be exciting."

Paul Felder will face Dan Hooker in the main event at UFC Auckland in February. Photo / Photosport

But while Felder is hopeful to improve his case for a title shot at the expense of the hometown favourite, the fight is about more than simply himself against Hooker.

For Felder, who trains with Duke Roufus at Roufusport in Milwaukee, it's a chance to put his team's style of striking against that of now world renowned Auckland gym City Kickboxing. Home to the likes of Hooker, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and No 6 ranked flyweight contender Kai Kara-France, City Kickboxing is ranked as the top UFC stable heading into the final month of the year.

"It wasn't just me who wanted this fight," Felder admitted, "Duke wanted this fight. We wanted to come over here and make a statement. Not only that I think I'm one of the best fighters in the lightweight division and the world, but Duke wants to show that our gym and our kickboxing style is better than anyone in the world.

"This isn't just me and Hooker; this is City Kickboxing and Roufusport."

Tickets for UFC Auckland go on sale from Friday, with more bouts to be announced in the coming weeks.