Dan Hooker's controversial 32 fighter contest held in backyard
A controversial and apparently unregulated backyard fight contest, had at least one gang member smashing it out for a $50,000 dollar prize. Social media posts show the event promoted by a well known MMA fighter Dan "Hangman" Hooker took place in someone's Auckland backyard. It was billed as 32 fighters going head to head in one minute scraps to be the last man standing and crowned king of the streets; no professionals allowed. Terry Hill, President of the New Zealand Mixed Martial Arts Federation spoke to Lisa Owen.
To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following:
See terms of use.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
50 police employees snooped into file of slain cop Lyn Fleming
By Jeremy Wilkinson, Open Justice multimedia journalist of Tributes to slain police officer Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming outside the Nelson police station after she was struck by a motor vehicle in the early hours of New Year's Day 2025. Photo: NZ Police / RNZ An internal police investigation has revealed 50 employees snooped into the file relating to the death of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming without good reason. Fleming died after she and fellow officer Adam Ramsay were struck by a vehicle while on foot patrol in the early hours of the morning on New Year's Day in Nelson. The 62-year-old succumbed to her injuries in the hospital that day, surrounded by her family and Ramsay suffered serious injuries. Fleming was the first policewoman to be killed in the line of duty in New Zealand. She was also the first police officer to be killed while on duty in Nelson. A 32-year-old man charged with offences linked to Fleming's death pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder earlier this year. His interim name suppression is still in place and he's due to appear again in August. Weeks after Fleming's death, police launched an internal investigation into alleged misuse of an intelligence database called the National Intelligence Application (NIA), which holds sensitive information about incidents and offending, as well as information about the public. Police employees, including civilian staff, have access to the database, but their use is tracked and audited and they must have a valid work reason for accessing anything within the system. Following an audit in January, a memo was sent to staff by the Deputy Commissioner of frontline operations Tania Kura, noting that a number of employees had checked the file relating to Fleming's death, but it had no connection to their duties. "Alarmingly, and disrespectfully, we have found people randomly checking the files on the devastating incident in Nelson," the memo read. "Unauthorised use of NIA will not be tolerated and final decisions on any sanctions for staff will be decided by a dedicated team." An Official Information Act request released to NZME confirmed there have been a total of 76 instances of misuse of NIA in 2025. A total of 116 police employees were investigated as part of the internal audit and 76 staff were found to have a legitimate reason for accessing the file. The funeral for Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming was held at the Trafalgar Centre in Nelson in January. Photo: RNZ / Anthony Phelps A spokesperson for police said the 50 staff who had misused the system in relation to Fleming's case had accessed both the event file, which holds a running log of information related to an open case, as well as the file for the alleged offender. "The audit provided an opportunity to remind all staff that NIA searches must be for appropriate reasons," the spokesperson said. All 50 staff members who accessed the file improperly were issued warnings. New Zealand Police Association president Chris Cahill said the numbers were a little bit surprising, but not concerning. "From my understanding, most people were looking to see if they could identify the officer because they were concerned it was someone they knew," he said. Cahill said it was possible there had been a similar spike after the death of Auckland police officer Matthew Hunt. "If we look at this nationally, it's not that bad considering how many NIA checks are done every year, hundreds of thousands a year, only to see 60 or so that are seen as inappropriate," he said. "It shows that things are pretty tight." Cahill said that a warning was far from a slap on the wrist and was actually quite serious. "It could be the step before dismissal in some cases." It is possible for police employees to be criminally charged for misusing NIA. An example is Kayla Watson, who was sentenced to 80 hours of community work after taking photos of files in the system and posting them into a Facebook chat with her friend. However, few police employees are criminally charged for breaching the terms of use of the database. For context, there were a total of 79 misuses in 2023, of which only one resulted in a criminal charge. The bulk of the rest resulted in a warning or performance action. In 2024, there were 65 misuses of NIA, again with the majority being resolved in a similar manner. Of the 220 alleged misuses of the application in the last three years, 54 incidents are still being investigated. -This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .

RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Football: Young Kiwi talent offered time with Barcelona
A small group of Kiwi kids have taken their passion for football further after they were selected to play football in Barcelona. Barça Academy, the junior programme associated with internationally recognised football club Barcelona FC, held a week-long experience camp for young football players in both Wellington and Auckland in January for people between four and 18 years of age. In some cases, players can be selected to travel to Barcelona to play in the academy's World Cup, where they play against local teams and train at the Barça headquarters, right next to where the first teams train and where La Masia, FC Barcelona's youth academy, competes in its domestic leagues. Eight-year-old Shera and seven-year-old Viggo were both selected to play at the Barça Academy World Cup after they were scouted at the Auckland camp. Viggo's dad, Eftim Stojanov, said he would even consider moving to Europe for his son's career. Photo: Supplied He said the world cup selection was confirmation of the talent his son displayed on the field. Shera's dad, Jackie Seo, said the experience camp in Auckland not only brought out Shera's passion for the game, but her personality as well. Photo: Supplied Aldric Miró, technical director of Barça Academy Camps in New Zealand, said the camps aimed to share FC Barcelona's style of play as the sport continued to grow here. "New Zealand is a growing market, not only from a business perspective, but also in its increasing interest in soccer," Miró said. "The club recognised an opportunity to bring the camps back to a country that has made significant strides in developing first-class facilities." Miró said Barça Academy offered New Zealand kids who love football the chance to experience what it's like to be a Barça player for a week. He also said the club was taken back by the skill level of young New Zealanders. "While we initially expected an average level of play, we've been impressed by the talent we've seen in Wellington and Auckland." Miró said the club plans to return to New Zealand in January 2026. Football New Zealand technical director Andy Boynes said that while the growth of the sport had attracted international attention, for some families, the cost meant it wasn't as simple as heading overseas to play. The cost of the week long experience camp was $1149, with an additonal $999 of GST not included. If a child is then selected to play in the academies world cup, there is an additional cost of over $6300 to cover tournament costs, uniforms, and additional training sessions. A supporters package to chaperone a child travelling to the world cup is over $4700, to cover the costs of the parent of guardian. Flights to and from Barcelona were additional to both the player and supporter packages. He said it was important parents understood that these academies were also businesses. "Sometimes it is commercial motives, rather than player development motives." Boynes said while it provided a fun experience, there were many opportunities in New Zealand that supported young players too. He said Football New Zealand was proud of the broad, grassroots system here. "We have over 450 clubs across the country that deliver quality football," Boynes said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Pakuranga Night Market assault alleged offender still at large
Two people were left in critical condition on Saturday evening after an incident at a night market in Pakuranga. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER Police on Sunday are still searching for a person who is believed to have critically injured two people in an assault at an Auckland night market on Saturday evening. Emergency services were called to Aylesbury Street and Reeves Road near the Night Market in Pakuranga at about 6.45pm. Hato Hone St John said three ambulances, three rapid response vehicles, and one operations manager responded to the scene. Ambulance officers treated and then transported two patients in critical condition to Middlemore Hospital. Police said on Sunday they had not yet made arrests, but previously said the attack appeared to be an isolated incident. Inspector Danny Meade said officers were following lines of enquiry to find the alleged offender. The Auckland Night Market posted on its social media page last night, alerting patrons to what happened and saying the Pakuranga market was closed for the evening. "We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding," it said. "This is an isolated incident, and all other markets will continue as planned." A later post claimed the fight started after those involved made eye contact while browsing hats. "Looking back, it was truly something that should never have happened," the post said. "No matter the situation, it's always best to avoid conflict and not escalate things." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.