Smith vs. Teixeira |
Rothwell vs. Saint Preux |
Dober vs. Hernandez |
Borg vs. Simon |
Roberson vs. Vettori |
|
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 41-23 |
Smith (82%) |
Saint Pruex (61%) |
Dober (52%) |
Borg (51%) |
Vettori (64%) |
Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 49-15 |
Smith |
Saint Pruex |
Dober |
Simon |
Vettori |
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 48-16 2017 Champion |
Smith |
Rothwell |
Hernandez |
Simon |
Vettori |
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 48-16 |
Smith |
Saint Pruex |
Dober |
Simon |
Vettori |
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 48-16 |
Smith |
Rothwell |
Dober |
Borg |
Vettori |
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 47-17 2014 Champion |
Smith |
Rothwell |
Hernandez |
Borg |
Roberson |
Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 47-17 2019 Champion* |
Smith |
Rothwell |
Hernandez |
Borg |
Vettori |
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 47-17 |
Smith |
Rothwell |
Hernandez |
Borg |
Vettori |
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 47-17 |
Smith |
Saint Pruex |
Hernandez |
Simon |
Vettori |
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 46-18 2018 Champion |
Smith |
Saint Pruex |
Dober |
Borg |
Vettori |
Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 45-19 |
Smith |
Rothwell |
Hernandez |
Borg |
Roberson |
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 44-20 |
Smith |
Rothwell |
Dober |
Borg |
Roberson |
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 43-21 |
Smith |
Rothwell |
Hernandez |
Borg |
Vettori |
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 38-26 |
Smith |
Saint Pruex |
Dober |
Simon |
Vettori |
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 29-35 |
Smith |
Saint Pruex |
Dober |
Simon |
Roberson |
The UFC is back with a quick turnaround for its second of three shows in eight days in Florida.
UFC on ESPN+ 29 takes place Wednesday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The card streams on ESPN+. The event is closed to fans, but the fights still will take place and will be broadcast with essential personnel on site.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
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In the main event, [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag] (33-14 MMA, 8-4 UFC) takes on fellow former light heavyweight title challenger [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag] (30-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) for the opportunity to stay in contention in the division. Smith is a slight favorite in the fight, but he’s the only unanimous pick on the five-fight main card from our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts.
In the co-main event, [autotag]Ben Rothwell[/autotag] (37-12 MMA, 7-6 UFC) meets [autotag]Ovince Saint Preux[/autotag] (24-13 MMA, 12-8 UFC), who is moving up to heavyweight from 205 pounds for the first time. Saint Preux is a slight favorite in the fight, but it’s Rothwell with an 8-6 lead in the picks from our staff members.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag] (22-9 MMA, 8-5 UFC) is a mild favorite in his lightweight fight against [autotag]Alexander Hernandez[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC). But in the picks, it’s split right down the middle at 7-7.
[autotag]Ray Borg[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) often struggled to make the flyweight limit, so the UFC forced his hand to move up to bantamweight to take on [autotag]Ricky Simon[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC). Simon is the favorite, but Borg has the slimmest of leads from our pickers at 8-6.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Marvin Vettori[/autotag] (14-3-1 MMA, 4-2-1 UFC) is a small favorite at middleweight against [autotag]Karl Roberson[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC), but he’s the second biggest favorite on the main card among our pickers with a big 10-4 lead.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Smith (82 percent), Saint Preux (61 percent), Dober (52 percent), Borg (51 percent) and Vettori (64 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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