UFC on ESPN+ 26: Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker odds, picks and best bets

Analyzing Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker odds, picks and betting lines for UFC on ESPN+ 26

Paul Felder and Dan Hooker square off in a light heavyweight bout on the main card at UFC on ESPN+ 26 – also called UFC Fight Night 168 – at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand Saturday. The card kicks off at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Felder (17-4-0) will travel into hostile territory to take on the kiwi Hooker. The 34-year-old American, nicknamed ‘The Irish Dragon’, enters this bout with victories in five of the past six fights. That includes a split-decision win over Edson Barboza at UFC 242 on the Khabib-Poirier card. Felder lost just once in six fights since Sept. 24, 2016.

Hooker (20-8-0) will have the New Zealand crowd behind him, while also holding the reach and a slight height advantage. In addition, he has a 4.73 Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute advantage to 3.55 for Felder. He is slightly more accurate in landing those strikes at 44.15-43.02 percent. Toss in the fact that Hooker has a slight advantage in takedown accuracy, takedown average and submission average, and there is a lot to like about the Kiwi.

Want to bet on Fight Night 168? New customer offer: Risk free first bet! Visit BetMGM for terms and conditions. Bet now!

Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker betting odds

Per BetMGM, Hooker (-167) is being backed by the people, and for good reason. He holds the advantages in all of the key statistics, and he’ll be fighting at home in front of a pro-Hooker crowd.

Take HOOKER (-167) to win on the 2-way line, and go with NO (-154) on the ‘Will the fight go the full five rounds?’ prop. I’ll be looking to pair Hooker with ZHANG WEILI (-176) on the UFC 248 card. If you have patience, and can wait to cash your ticket until March 7, Weili is going to blast Joanna Jedrzejczyk and is nice a toss-in for the parlay. We’ll preview that fight in early March.

New to sports betting? A $10 2-fighter parlay on Hooker (-162) and Weili (-176) would turn a profit of $15.07.

To watch the full card, sign up for ESPN+ now.

If you want some action on this MMA bout, place your wagers at BetMGM now. For more sports betting picks and analysis, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @JoeWilliamsVI and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

[lawrence-newsletter]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=2559]

WGC-Mexico Championship: Round 3 tee times, TV info

Here are Round 3 tee times and TV info for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in Mexico City.

[jwplayer INANcwZ4-9JtFt04J]

The World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship began Thursday at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City, and the field includes some of golf’s best.

The field is comprised of eight of the top-10 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking and six of the top-10 players in the Golfweek/Sagarin ranking.

WGC-MEXICO: Leaderboard | Best photos | Updates

Bryson DeChambeau went 8-under 63 Friday to take the lead at 11 under.  He sits two strokes ahead of Erik van Rooyen and Patrick Reed in second. Hideki Matsuyama, who recorded five birdies in his first six holes Friday, finished the second round with a 64. He sits tied in fourth with Justin Thomas at 9 under.

First-round leader and World No. 1 Rory McIlroy fell to sixth at 8 under after shooting a 69 in Friday’s second round.

Reigning champion Dustin Johnson is T-60 at 5 over after rounds of 76-71.

Round 3

All times listed in Eastern.

1st tee

Tee time Players
11:18 a.m. Matt Kuchar, Branden Grace, Benjamin Hebert
11:30 a.m. Adam Scott, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Kevin Kisner
11:43 a.m. Collin Morikawa, Justin Harding, Matthew Fitzpatrick
11:54 a.m. Shane Lowry, Lanto Griffin, Sungjae Im
12:06 p.m. Danny Willett, Jon Rahm, Zander Lombard
12:18 p.m. Zach Murray, Ryan Fox, Abraham Ancer
12:30 p.m. Louis Oosthuizen, Tommy Fleetwood, Gary Woodland
12:42 p.m. Matthias Schwab, Billy Horschel, Bubba Watson
12:54 p.m. Corey Conners, Lee Westwood, Kevin Na
1:06 p.m. Sebastián Muñoz, Tyrrell Hatton, Paul Casey
1:18 p.m. Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy
1:30 p.m. Bryson DeChambeau, Erik van Rooyen, Patrick Reed

10th tee

Tee time Players
11:18 a.m. Scottie Scheffler, Carlos Ortiz, Jason Kokrak
11:30 a.m. Shaun Norris, Brendon Todd, Robert MacIntyre
11:43 a.m. Marc Leishman, Sugo Imahira, Lucas Glover
11:54 a.m. Byeong Hun An, Xander Schauffele, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12:06 p.m. Chez Reavie, Lucas Herbert, Webb Simpson
12:18 p.m. Brandt Snedeker, Pablo Larrazabal, Kurt Kitayama
12:30 p.m. Bernd Wiesberger, Sergio Garcia, Jazz Janewattananond
12:42 p.m. Cameron Smith, Francesco Molinari, Jordan Spieth
12:54 p.m. Scott Hend, Dustin Johnson, Charles Howell III
1:06 p.m. Michael Lorenzo-Vera, Marcus Kinhult, Graeme McDowell
1:18 p.m. Victor Perez, Matt Wallace, Jorge Campillo
1:30 p.m. Sung Kang, Ryo Ishikawa, Tae Hee Lee

Viewing information

All times are in Eastern.

Saturday

Golf Channel: Noon-2:30 p.m.
NBC: 2:30-6 p.m.
SiriusXM: 1-6 p.m.

Sunday

Golf Channel: 1-2:30 p.m.
NBC: 2:30-7 p.m.
SiriusXM: 2-7 p.m.

[opinary poll=”where-will-tiger-woods-get-win-no-83_gol” customer=”golfweek”]

Vikings take Utah’s Jaylon Johnson in Touchdown Wire mock draft

In its most recent mock draft, Touchdown Wire predicted that the Vikings No. 25 overall pick will be … cornerback Jaylon Johnson.

Our friends over at Touchdown Wire have predicted that the Vikings will shore up some depth at cornerback in the first round.

Jaylon Johnson, a corner out of Utah, was the 25th overall pick in Touchdown Wire’s latest mock draft.

Johnson was a two-time first-team All-Pac-12 select at the cornerback position. He had seven career interceptions.

As Touchdown Wire pointed out, the Vikings’ Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes combined for just one interception all of last year. Also, Rhodes could be a candidate to get cut or have a restructured contract due to the Vikings’ salary cap situation. Waynes is set to enter free agency.

It could be crucial to add more depth at that position if both those guys leave, regardless of how you feel about their level of play as of late.

Read the rest of Touchdown Wire’s mock draft here.

Georgia football is recent history’s LBU

Is it possible to be both LBU and RBU? It is, because apparently the University of Georgia is, at least in the BCS and playoff eras.

The University of Georgia’s football program has long been known for its development of tailbacks and consequently stakes among the strongest claims to the title of RBU, or running back university. Ten tailbacks in the past 20 NFL Drafts have seen professional action by way of Athens, Georgia.

(Interesting piece of trivia: 34 Georgia running backs have been selected in the draft. That number looks a bit familiar when discussing Bulldog tailbacks.)

However, the Dawgs dominate at a different position at the NFL Draft, sending 20 linebackers to the National Football League, more than any other school can claim across the same span of time.

To put that number in perspective, only 14 Bulldog linebackers had been drafted prior to the year 2000.

(Which brings us to more happenstance trivia: that equates the total of tailbacks drafted from Georgia.)

Is it possible for one school to be both LBU and RBU? It is, because apparently the University of Georgia is, at least in the BCS and playoff eras.

It might have something to do with two incredibly talented position groups running into, over, but ultimately with each other across twenty years’ worth of practices.

Iron sharpens iron, et cetera, et cetera.

The Lakers are reportedly waiving DeMarcus Cousins and fans are shocked

DeMarcus Cousins’ season with the Lakers is reportedly over.

The Lakers missed out on adding the guard they need when Darren Collision opted not to come out of retirement earlier this month, but it was reported on Friday that the Lakers are expected to add depth to its frontcourt and sign Markieff Morris, who agreed to a contract buyout from the Pistons.

With a full roster of 15 players, the Lakers would need to waive a player to make room for Morris should he clear waivers, and that player will be four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, according to a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.

Cousins’ departure brings an end to what was primed to be one of the NBA’s most exciting experiments when it came together last summer. Cousins was limited in the 2018-19 season due to injuries, but the Lakers hoped that he could rediscover his All-NBA form alongside former Pelicans teammate Anthony Davis in LA. We never got to see Cousins take the floor with the Lakers, though, after he suffered a torn ACL last August.

The Lakers had no timetable for Cousins’ return, but had not ruled out a possible comeback in the playoffs this year. Coach Frank Vogel said during the All-Star break that Cousins was “on track” for a playoff return, but backtracked earlier this week, telling reporters that Cousins was “not close” to being ready.

(Warning: video contains explicit language)

[jwplayer aI0Gt7AD-q2aasYxh]

 

 

In his first interview since leaving …

In his first interview since leaving school to turn professional, Wiseman told ESPN that he cried every night in his dormitory room during the turbulent episode with the NCAA, ultimately leaving school amid a 12-game suspension for rules violations that Wiseman insists he hadn’t been aware occurred. “I was really in the middle of a hurricane,” Wiseman told ESPN in an interview that aired Friday. “That’s like the worst place you could possibly be. Just having the mental agony and the suffering, crying every night because I just wanted to get on the court so much.”

Wiseman signed with Excel Sports for …

Wiseman signed with Excel Sports for his professional representation and remains a strong possibility to become the No. 1 overall pick. “I wanted to have a great collegiate career,” Wiseman told ESPN. “I wanted to win a national championship. But throughout the course of the first two games, everything started to go down in terms of my mental [well-being]. I was getting depressed. It was dehumanizing for me.”

Wiseman cited an inability to pay back …

Wiseman cited an inability to pay back the $11,500 and the threat of potential injury as reasons for ending his college career prematurely. “It was a bit surreal because I couldn’t use a GoFundMe page that [ESPN’s] Jay Williams put out for me, obviously,” Wiseman told ESPN. “I couldn’t use any outside sources. I had to get [the money] on my own, and that was pretty impossible because I didn’t have the money. I was just a regular college student.”