The Main Event – UFC Fight Night 168: Paul Felder Vs Dan Hooker

Another week has been punched out in the octagon and the UFC only has just begun to scratch the surface with the exhilarating year it has on exhibition for fight fans to witness. The Ultimate Fighting Championship makes the journey to New Zealand’s capital, Auckland, when Dan Hooker goes toe-to-toe with Paul Felder in Fight Night 168 on Sunday, February 23^rd and Bet Today USA has all your MMA Predictions right here.

Main Event: Dan Hooker (-148) Vs Paul Felder (+115)

‘The Hangman’s’ prompt pressure will prosper in early rounds and the added pressure will keep Felder at bay for some time, but with ongoing pressure comes increased damage and this will slowly accumulate and translate on to Hooker. Felder, if composed and patient, then his window will open and Hooker will become vulnerable to strikes and attacks.

Hooker relied too much on constant pressure in his previous fight, that sequentially pried open a door of opportunity for Barboza. Edson saw his opening and peppered Dan with a flurry of kicks until he toppled to the canvas. Felder will target his legs, gnawing away with various leg kicks and an application of attrition.

It can’t be denied that Hooker has great output, but the New Zealander swallows too many shots to be able to go the distance. Felder’s last fight against James Vick might mirror this main event, in the fact that both Vick and Hooker are similar in fight style coupled with physical attributes and Felder managed to get the decision.

Hooker, an Auckland native, is in his home town and will utilise a domicile advantage approaching this bout as the favourite. Felder is a great striker with a large gas tank and this fight could go either way. UFC predictions see Felder as overvalued as the underdog (+115) and the Irishman has a great shot in the eight walls of death against Hooker.

Jimmy Crute (+125) Vs Michal Oleksiejczuk (-159)

Jimmy Crute will have redemption clearly in sight after being handed his first professional loss against Misha Cirkunov, at UFC Fight Night 158, Vancouver. The Aussie will take on fellow light heavyweight Michal Oleksiejczuk on the main event’s undercard and both will be aiming to make a huge splash.

Crute in his last outing seemed to be fitting square pegs into round holes when he suffered a first-round submission loss to Cirkunov. Prior to the bout, ‘The Brute’ had been inducted into UFC with a flawless record, successfully submitting Paul Craig last December and knocking out Sam Alvey last February.

At 24 years old, Oleksiejczuk is just one-year Crute’s senior and also is off the back of a loss. ‘Lord’ will also be looking to rebound from a submission loss last September. The Polish native succumbed to submission at the hands of Ovince Saint Preux, who knocked ‘Lord’ off his stride in the second round before surrendering to defeat.

Crute is a patient fighter, creeping forward before exploding with a flurry of powerful combinations. With his composed demeanour in the octagon, he does a colossal job landing his strikes while quickly getting out of the danger zone and not absorbing much damage. Oleksiejczuk, on the other hand, possesses an extremely aggressive stance and comes flying out of the blocks and essentially bull-rushing opponents. The Polish puncher throws wild hooks looking to put his adversary to sleep. Due to his high output in the early rounds, he tends to slow in the later rounds and his punches become a little more wild and sloppy.

Karolina Kowalkiewicz (+190) vs Yan Xiaonan (-250)

In the midst of the worst losing streak of her career, Kowalkiewicz has dropped her last three fights and is desperate to get a win cemented back on her record. Her losing ways started to snowball at UFC 205, when she challenged Joanna Jedzejczyk for the title and suffered her first pro loss. Looking to pile on another defeat is Yan 'Fury' Xiaonan who is undefeated in her last ten fights and gunning for more glory.

Kowalkiewicz enjoys dominating the middle of the cage to slowly back down her opponents, in hope of baiting them into throwing a strike so she can fire back peppering combinations. A stumbling block with this tactic is that she sometimes gets caught watching her opponents, standing in striking range but not threatening, which results in her getting hit without inflicting any damage the other way. Xiaonan's footwork is tremendous, varying attacks from counters to asserting dominance.

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