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(Editor’s note: The main card fight between Ottman Azaitar and Matt Frevola was called off in weigh-ins on Friday. The new main card fight between Makhmud Muradov and Andrew Sanchez was added too late for our selection deadline. )
The UFC ends its three-event eight-day stint on “Fight Island” with its biggest draw.
UFC 257 takes place on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The main card is shown on pay-per-view after the preliminaries on ESPN and the firsts on ESPN +.
(Click here to open a PDF of the Staff Selection Grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) meets ex-lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10 -2 UFC) in a rematch of a fight won in 2014 by McGregor. McGregor is a 3-1 favorite at BetMGM, and he has a sizable 10-4 lead from our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts.
In the co-feature, former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler (21-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his promotional debut against Dan Hooker (20-9 MMA, 10-5 UFC). Hooker is just a slight favorite at -130, but it’s Chandler with a big 10-4 pick lead.
Joanne Calderwood (14-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) may have the thinnest betting odds in her favor on the main card at -120 for her women’s flyweight bout against former title challenger Jessica Eye (15 -8 MMA, 5-7 UFC), but the picks are a blowout at 13-1 for Calderwood.
And Amanda Ribas (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is a -350 favorite in her women’s strawweight bout against Marina Rodriguez (12-1-2 MMA, 2-1-2 UFC). Ribas is our only unanimous pick, and she’s also our reader’s biggest favorite with a whopping 94%.
In MMA readers’ consensus choices Junkie, McGregor (62%), Hooker (57%), Calderwood (58%) and Ribas (94%) are the choices.
Check out all of the choices above.
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