UFC: The Hangman puts away Entwistle

Dan Hooker has Ian Entwistle in trouble last night. Photo / Getty Images

After winning his maiden appearance in the UFC with a first-round TKO, Auckland's Dan Hooker was asked in his post-fight interview about his opponent's desire to go for a leg lock.

Caught up in the moment, The Hangman stood in the middle of the cage at Vector Arena last night and screamed: "Stand up, New Zealand."

An amped-up crowd leapt to their feet and cheered for the next Kiwi we may see a lot more of in the UFC.

The 24-year-old featherweight improved to 11-4 for his MMA career after a string of vicious elbows saw him score a victory over England's Ian Entwistle UFC Fight Night 43 in Auckland.

Last night's event marked the first appearance by the UFC in New Zealand and Hooker was the recipient of the promotion's desire to give a talented local a chance to perform on the big stage.

Hooker has fought throughout Australasia but few wins will mean more than last night's as he also showed he was worth keeping around in the UFC after signing a non-guaranteed four-fight deal before his debut.

Entwistle, who dropped to 8-2 with the loss, was determined to take Hooker to the deck and tie him up with leg and foot locks in the early stages.

Hooker was comfortable with the fight moving to the ground and eventually worked himself into a position to deliver a collection of elbows, which caused referee Steve Perceval to stop the fight at 3:34 of the first frame.

Entwistle protested that the stoppage was premature but he wasn't defending himself.

"The fight went exactly how I envisaged," Hooker said. "I trained foot locks this whole camp and felt completely comfortable in that position, so I hit him."

Hooker's victory followed on from an entertaining light heavyweight fight to start the night when New York's Gian Villante edged fellow American Sean O'Connell in a split decision.

In other preliminary card results, Melbourne welterweight Vik Grujic beat Perth's Chris Indich via first-round TKO.

Sydney flyweight Richie Vaculik toppled Filipino fighter Roldan Sangcha-an by unanimous decision.

In the lightweight contest, Aussie Jake Matthews submitted his American opponent Dashon Johnson in the third round.

Melbourne's Matthews was the youngest competitor on the UFC roster at only 19 but looked dominant throughout the bout before he connected a triangle choke to move his career record to 8-0 in his UFC debut.