Eddiva has been penciled to share the Octagon with New Zealand-native Daniel Hooker. Hooker has a record of two wins and two losses in the UFC. His most recent outing under the promotion was a losing effort against Yair Rodriguez in the undercard of Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson (October 3, 2015).
Experience-wise, Hooker has the advantage. Although he turned professional three years later than Eddiva, he has notched more fights. His record currently stands at 12 wins and 6 losses. Eddiva's record is 6 wins and 2 losses. Hooker also possesses significant height and reach advantages over Eddiva. He is 9 centimeters taller and his reach is 17 centimeters longer.
Eddiva trains under the Team Lakay banner. Hooker, on the other hand, trains at Elevation Fight Team, the same training ground for big UFC names like TJ Dillashaw, Brandon Thatch, Neil Magny, and Matt Brown.
Hooker told Sports Rants that he expects to dominate the Filipino fighter. "Have you ever tried to fight your big brother?! That’s how I see this fight playing out. I see myself beating him to the punch, bullying him in the grapple and squeezing the life out of him, “big brother style”", Hooker told the sports news website. He also posted on his Facebook page that the fight won't go past the first round.
