Kiwi fight star Dan Hooker wants to keep the UFC wave rolling in New Zealand, when he headlines this weekend's event in Auckland.
On Tuesday, Hooker and his fellow UFC fighters - including American opponent Paul Felder - were welcomed onto Orakei Marae to begin the build-up to Sunday's action at Spark Arena.
'The Hangman' is eager to build on the momentum created by middleweight world champion Israel Adesanya, who won Sportsman of the Year at the Halberg Awards last week.
"It means a lot to the growth of the sport in the future," said Hooker. "Being a mainstream sport is the only way that we're going to get more people in the gym, more people committing to the sport.
"It's progress."
Felder gushed about his cultural experience, describing it as a welcome like no other.
"This was fantastic," said Felder. "There's no better way to get you in the mood for fight night than being a part of this ceremony.
"I'm honoured to be here and this really makes me feel like this is a special event."
Hooker's fight with Felder will be the main event at the UFC Fight Night.
His City Kickboxing gymmates will also be in action - Kai Kara-France takes on Tyson Nam and Brad Riddell squares off against Mustafa Mustafaev.
Join us for live updates of UFC Auckland from 10am Sunday.
