UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker promises that he will “fight tooth and nail to the death” when he meets rival Paul Felder at UFC Auckland next year.

The UFC recently announced that Hooker and Felder will headline UFC Fight Night 169, which is set to take place on February 22 at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The two have been talking plenty of trash to each other on social media the last few months and the UFC matchmakers decided they had to strike while the iron is hot and book the fight.

Felder just signed a new contract with the UFC and was flown to New Zealand this week to have his first staredown with Hooker. The two went nose-to-nose and didn’t break eye contact until they had to. Both men admit there’s plenty of bad blood between them.

Check out a picture from their first staredown below courtesy of NewsHub on Twitter.

'I will fight tooth and nail to the death' – Hooker prepared for war against Paul Felder https://t.co/hNInOhT0dB (@PhotosportNZ) pic.twitter.com/9Unti2Czob

— Newshub Sport (@NewshubSport) December 4, 2019

In an interview with Brad Lewis of NewsHub, Hooker said that he promises fans he will do absolutely everything in his power to get his hand raised against his rival.

“I haven’t even thought about losing because it’s not an option,” Hooker said. “My back is against the wall. In this venue here, on this land, he will have to put me out cold. I will fight tooth and nail to the death. I promise you that.”

Hooker said that he’s not happy with the way Felder has spoken to him on social media, which includes Felder posting a humorous photo of a “hooker” in his attempt to call Hooker out.

“After my last fight, he started making fun of me and things around me. That respect, that gentlemen’s agreement, is now off the table because I’ve got something coming for him. There is definitely a little bit of bad blood there now,” Hooker said.

In the stacked UFC lightweight division, every win is critical to moving up the ladder and one step closer to fighting for the title. In this matchup between the No. 6 ranked lightweight in the UFC in Felder and No. 7 ranked lightweight in Hooker, fans should expect nothing less than an amazing fight. And with 25 minutes in the cage with one another, the likelihood of one man going to sleep is very high.

How excited are you for Dan Hooker vs. Paul Felder?