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A highly-intriguing Lightweight matchup between Dan Hooker and Paul Felder has been booked to headline the upcoming UFC Fight Night event in Auckland, New Zealand on Feb. 23, 2020.
“The Hangman” took to Twitter to confirm the booking and to warn “The Irish Dragon” of the face-smashing coming his way in a few short months.
Hooker is coming off a dominant unanimous decision victory over Al Iaquinta, which went down at UFC 243 on October 6 in Melbourne, Australia (recap here). Afterward, Hooker called for a fight against former title contender, Dustin Poirier, but was quickly shut down.
The win over “Ragin’ Al” was Dan’s second in a row and six of seven overall.
Felder, meanwhile, called for a showdown against Hooker and the promotion — for whom he serves as a broadcaster — obliged. Paul is also riding a two-fight win streak and has won five of his last six. His lone loss came against Mike Perry in a Welterweight bout. That excluded, Paul has won five straight at 155 pounds.
More recently, Felder was seen taking out Edson Barboza in the co-main event of UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi on Sept. 7.
The winner will get a huge bump in his quest to climb the stacked 155-pound ladder in order to get closer to a shot against division kingpin, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will next defend his belt against Tony Ferguson.
You know the players, care to offer up an early prediction?