UFC on ESPN+ 26 predictions: Is it Paul Felder or Dan Hooker in New Zealand?

	Felder vs. Hooker	Crute vs. Oleksiejczuk	Kowalkiewicz vs. Xiaonan	De Lima vs. Sosoli	Mustafaev vs. Riddell	Aguilar vs. Tukhugov
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 16-10	Felder (53%)	Crute (63%)	Xiaonan (63%)	Sosoli (63%)	Mustafaev (66%)	Tukhugov (64%)
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 20-6	Hooker	Oleksiejczuk	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Aguilar
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 20-6 2017 Champion	Felder	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 19-7	Felder	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 19-7	Hooker	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 19-7	Hooker	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 19-7	Hooker	Crute	Xiaonan	Sosoli	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 19-7	Hooker	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 19-7 2014 Champion	Felder	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 18-8	Felder	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Riddell	Aguilar
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 18-8	Hooker	Crute	Xiaonan	Sosoli	Riddell	Tukhugov
Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 18-8 2019 Champion*	Hooker	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 17-9 2018 Champion	Hooker	Crute	Xiaonan	De Lima	Mustafaev	Aguilar
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 16-10	Hooker	Oleksiejczuk	Kowalkiewicz	De Lima	Mustafaev	Tukhugov
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 12-14	Felder	Crute	Kowalkiewicz	Sosoli	Mustafaev	Aguilar

The UFC is back in New Zealand this week with a local standout in a lightweight showdown atop the card.

UFC on ESPN+ 26 takes place Saturday (Sunday locally) at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The event streams on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, Paul Felder (17-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) takes on New Zealand’s own Dan Hooker (19-8 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in a lightweight fight that is a couple years in the making. Hooker is just a slight favorite from the oddsmakers, but he has a fairly substantial 9-5 lead in the picks from our 14 MMA Junkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers.

In the co-main event, Michal Oleksiejczuk (14-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is a -150 favorite in his light heavyweight fight against Australia’s Jimmy Crute (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC). But it’s Crute who has a whopping 12-2 lead in our picks.

Yan Xiaonan (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is the biggest favorite on the main card in her women’s strawweight bout against Karolina Kowalkiewicz (12-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC). Xiaonan has a big 12-2 picks lead.

Also on the main card, Marcos Rogerio de Lima (16-6-1 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is a mild favorite against Australia’s Ben Sosoli (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at heavyweight. The Brazilian has an 11-3 edge in the picks.

Magomed Mustafaev (14-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is a -150 favorite in his lightweight bout against Brad Riddell (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), and he’s got a 12-2 blowout picks lead.

And to open the main card, Kevin Aguilar (17-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) takes on Zubaira Tukhugov (18-4-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC) in a featherweight fight. Aguilar is a slight favorite at the sportsbooks, but it’s Tukhugov who has a heavy 10-4 lead in the picks from our staff members.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Felder (53 percent), Crute (63 percent), Xiaonan (63 percent), Sosoli (63 percent), Mustafaev (66 percent) and Tukhugov (64 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.