| Usman vs. Covington |
Holloway vs. Volkanovski |
Nunes vs. de Randamie |
Aldo vs. Moraes |
Faber vs. Yan |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2019: 207-123 (63%) |
 Covington (54%) |
 Holloway (76%) |
 Nunes (84%) |
 Moraes (66%) |
 Yan (61%) |
| Simon Head @simonhead 2019: 123-65 (65%) |
 Usman |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2019: 118-65 (64%) |
Covington |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2019: 212-118 (64%) |
Covington |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2019: 210-120 (64%) |
Usman |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2019: 210-120 (64%)  2017 Champion |
Covington |
 Volkanovski |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2019: 207-123 (63%) |
Covington |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2019: 207-123 (63%) |
Usman |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2019: 205-125 (62%) 2014 Champion |
Covington |
Holloway |
Nunes |
 Aldo |
Yan |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2019: 203-127 (62%) |
Covington |
Volkanovski |
 de Randamie |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2019: 107-70 (60%) |
Covington |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2019: 197-133 (60%) |
Usman |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
Yan |
| Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2019: 134-104 (56%) |
Usman |
Holloway |
Nunes |
Moraes |
 Faber |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2019: 173-157 (52%) |
Usman |
Volkanovski |
de Randamie |
Aldo |
Faber |
The UFC is back in Las Vegas for its biggest pay-per-view card of the year with three title fights atop the bill.
UFC 245 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
[lawrence-related id=469415,469432]
In the main event, welterweight champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC) puts his belt on the line in a grudge match against former interim champ [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC). Usman nearly is a 2-1 favorite at the sports books. But our 13 MMA Junkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers see it the other way, just barely. Covington has the slightest possible edge at 7-6 in our picks.
In the co-main event, featherweight champ [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (21-4 MMA, 17-4 UFC) defends his title against [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] (20-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC). Holloway is about a -175 favorite and he has a 9-4 lead in the picks.
The third title fight on the card sees dual women’s champ [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 11-1 UFC) put her bantamweight title up against former featherweight titleholder [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC). Nunes is a big favorite at more than 3-1, and she’s got a sizable 11-2 lead in the picks.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag] (28-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) makes his first move to bantamweight to take on [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (22-6-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC). Moraes is more than a 2-1 favorite, and he’s got a huge 11-2 picks advantage.
And to open the main card, bantamweight [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] (13-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is the biggest favorite at the event by far against [autotag]Urijah Faber[/autotag] (35-10 MMA, 11-6 UFC). Yan is around a -550 favorite, and he has a big 11-2 lead in the picks.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Covington (54%), Holloway (76 percent), Nunes (84 percent), Moraes (66 percent) and Yan (61 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.