UFC is back in the Southern Hemisphere this weekend, with UFC Fight Night 168 set for Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, with the broadcast set for ESPN+. The main event is a lightweight tilt between Paul Felder and Dan Hooker. The co-headliner is a light heavyweight fight pitting Jimmy Crute against Michal Oleksiejczuk. We have the complete fight card for you to peruse, as well as UFC betting insights on some of the top matchups.
Felder vs Hooker UFC Fight Night 168 Preview & Betting Odds
Main Card UFC Fight Night 168 (ESPN+)
- Paul Felder vs Dan Hooker (Lightweight)
- Jimmy Crute vs Michal Oleksiejczuk (Light Heavyweight)
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Yan Xiaonan (Women’s Strawweight)
- Ben Sosoli vs Marcos Rogerio de Lima (Heavyweight)
- Brad Riddell vs Magomed Mustafaev (Lightweight)
- Kevin Aguilar vs Zubaira Tukhugov (Featherweight)
- Jalin Turner vs Joshua Culibao (Lightweight)
- Jake Matthews vs Emil Weber Meek (Welterweight)
- Callan Potter vs Song Kenan (Welterweight)
- Kai Kara-France vs Tyson Nam (Flyweight)
- Loma Lookboonmee vs Angela Hill (Women’s Strawweight)
- Maki Pitolo vs Takashi Sato (Welterweight)
- Priscilla Cachoeira vs Shana Dobson (Women’s Flyweight)
Paul Felder (17-4, +120) vs Dan Hooker (19-8, -140) gives us an Auckland native in Dan Hooker. He had a decent run as a featherweight, starting his UFC career with a victory over Ian Entwistle. His finishing ability is above average, but he was difficult to categorize because he kept changing his approach. Then he went to lightweight, and his career improved, with wins over Ross Pearson, Marc Diakiese and Jim Miller, the last of those coming in 2018 and serving as his first dominant win using aggressive forms of pressure. He lost badly to Edson Barboza at the end of 2018, but in 2019, he beat James Vick quickly and put together the most solid fight of his career in October, beating Al Iaquinta.
Felder delivered an impressive victory over Danny Castillo in 2014, shortly after coming into UFC, so they gave him Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson as his next two opponents, leading to a pair of losses. Since then, he has steadily improved, but the critique of his approach is that he tends to roll with the rhythm of the fight instead of coming up with a strategy ahead of time. His kickboxing is above average, but it is his clinch game that sneaks up on opponents, as he can use that to deliver finishes. He used that clinch to deliver in his rematch against Barboza. Now he gets the biggest fight of his career to date.
Hooker should win if he shows the same form that paid off for him against Iaquinta back in October. He has the range to keep most fighters in his division away from him, and he also has the wrestling strength to control the grappling game. Felder does not have as much speed and power as the likes of Barboza, so Hooker should be able to wear him down.
Final Prediction: Hooker wins via decision
Jim Crute (10-1, +120) vs Michal Oleksiejczuk (14-3, -140) features an Australian native in Crute who came into UFC from Dana White’s Contender Series and defeated Paul Craig and Sam Alvey fairly easily. However, once Crute was given a chance against a higher-tier fighter in the division, he had problems, such as when Misha Cirkunov was able to deliver a submission victory without having to work particularly hard. However, Crute is still just 23 and has the skills to justify giving him time to improve.
Oleksiejczuk hails from Poland and has developed a reputation for an iron chin. He absorbed all types of punishment from Khalil Rountree but came back to take a win. He missed the 2018 season because of a drug test-related suspension, but in 2019, he took down Gian Villante and Gadzhimurad Antigulov in less than two minutes each. In September, though, he brought bombs against Ovince St. Preux — only to run out of gas. I expect him to have this same approach against Crute — and Crute has the presence of mind to hold off the early pressure and then wait for Oleksiejczuk to wear down and then start stacking up the points.
Final Prediction: Crute wins via decision
