UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. Hooker results and post-fight analysis

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Trent Reinsmith takes a look at an exciting UFC card from Auckland.

Well, a war was expected and a war was delivered when Paul Felder and Dan Hooker faced off in the main event of the UFC Auckland card. Hooker started out strong and marked up Felder, but Felder took everything Hooker had to offer and just kept moving forward, which, let’s be honest, is precisely what was expected. The 25-minute battle was one of the more exciting fights in recent memory and by the end of the contest, both competitors wore damage. Felder’s face was bloody and his right eye was severely swollen, while Hooker’s jaw was clearly damaged. The scores could have gone either way, but in the end, it was Hooker who got the split decision nod.

After the contest, which could garner consideration for 2020’s fight of the year, Hooker called out Justin Gaethje, while Felder, who was fighting back tears, said he might hang up the gloves to spend more time at home with his young daughter.

• Jimmy Crute landed a quick takedown early in his light heavyweight bout against Michal Oleksiejczuk and he did an excellent job of returning Oleksiejczuk to the mat every time he got to his feet. On his eighth and last takedown of the fight, Crute went from mount to side control and quickly locked on a kimura for the first-round submission. Crute, who was the underdog in the bout, made the win look easy. At just 23, Crute has a lot of time to develop into a solid contender.
• Yan Xiaonan put it on former strawweight title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz from the start. She used aggressive and effective striking to control Kowalkiewicz. During the first five minutes, Xiaonan damaged Kowalkiewicz’s right eye. She did an excellent job targeting that eye in the second round. Kowalkiewicz was obviously bothered by the damage to her eye, but her corner, the referee and the doctor let her fight on. They shouldn’t have. Outside of that, Xiaonan looked excellent in handing Kowalkiewicz her fourth straight loss.
• The heavyweight scrap between Ben Sosoli and Marcos Rogerio de Lima had the potential to get ugly the longer it lasted, so it was a good thing it didn’t last long. De Lima scored a TKO win at 1:28 of the first round, dropping Sosoli to the mat and following up with another strike before the ref waved off the contest.
• First, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give props to Magomed Mustafaev for walking out to Snap!, which makes me want to know more about the normally stone-faced fighter. Second, Brad Riddell of City Kickboxing is a comer in the lightweight division. He showed extremely powerful striking, a solid chin and he did an excellent job of keeping Mustafaev from generating any offense once the fight hit the mat. A solid showing from a fighter who was only competing in his second UFC bout. A great fight to open the main card in Auckland.
• Zubaira Tukhugov broke a two-fight winless streak emphatically when he dropped Kevin Aguilar with a massive left hook and then absolutely assaulted Aguilar on the mat with ground strikes on his way to a first-round stoppage. Tukhugov was very patient in the lead up to the finish and if he can stay active, he should be someone to watch in the featherweight division.
• Jake Matthews moved to 5-1 at welterweight with a unanimous decision win over Emil Meek. Matthews looked excellent in the early going of the fun scrap, scoring takedowns with ease as well as a massive uppercut knockdown. However, when Meek drew Matthews into his brawling style, Matthews emptied his gas tank and faded as the contest wore on. Overall, a solid performance from Matthews.
• My oh my, Song Kenan is a fighter to watch in the welterweight division. Kenan scored his third knockout win under the UFC banner when he stopped Callan Potter in the first round. The finishing sequence highlighted Kenan’s striking ability as every punch he threw landed with bad intentions. What made the won more impressive was that Kenan had to move camps for this event.
• Auckland’s City Kickboxing got its first win of the night when Kai Kara-France rode his jab to a unanimous decision win over Tyson Nam. Nam landed the more damaging strikes, but Kara-France had the advantage in volume and landing percentage. The one thing Kara-France is going to need to be concerned with as he advances is how low and often he drops his right hand while throwing his left jab. Other than that, it was a good performance from the New Zealander.
• Angela Hill walked into the Octagon for her record sixth fight in 11 months. She walked out with her third consecutive win and she could be in for a deserved push from the UFC thanks to her split decision win. Hill looked excellent throughout the bout, which she accepted on short notice. Hill and Loma Lookboonmee put on an enjoyable, active and technical 15-minute scrap, but it was Hill’s MMA experience that carried the day.
• Good lord, Priscila Cachoeira came out firing in the opening fight of the night and after an exciting few seconds, Cachoeira knocked out Shana Dobson. The battle lasted a total of 40 seconds. The win ended an 0-3 run for Cachoeira and most likely saved her spot on the roster. As for Dobson, the loss put her on a three-fight losing skid.