| Freire vs. Carvalho |
Sanchez vs. Weichel |
Amosov vs. Storley |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 138-84 |
 Freire (65%) |
 Sanchez (73%) |
 Amosov (73%) |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 151-71 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 148-74 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 148-74 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 146-76 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 144-78  2019 Champion* |
Freire |
 Weichel |
Amosov |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 143-79 2014 Champion |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 143-79 |
Freire |
Weichel |
Amosov |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 141-81 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
 Storley |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 141-81 2017 Champion |
Freire |
Weichel |
Amosov |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 138-84 2018 Champion |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 138-84 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 137-85 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 134-88 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Amosov |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 85-137 |
 Carvalho |
Weichel |
Storley |
Bellator is back in Connecticut this week with the long-awaited continuation of its featherweight tournament.
Bellator 252 takes place Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, lightweight and featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (30-4 MMA, 18-4 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] (11-3 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) in the quarterfinals of the featherweight tournament with Freire’s 145-pound title on the line. Freire is a heavy favorite, and all but one of our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts are picking him to win.
In the co-feature, [autotag]Emmanuel Sanchez[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) meets [autotag]Daniel Weichel[/autotag] (40-11 MMA, 9-3 BMMA) in another tournament quarterfinal fight. The favored Sanchez is the pick of 10 of our 14 staff members.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Yaroslav Amosov[/autotag] (24-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) fights [autotag]Logan Storley[/autotag] (11-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) in a matchup of unbeaten welterweights. Amosov has a big 12-2 leadd in the picks.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Freire (65 percent), Sanchez (73 percent) and Amosov (73 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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