| Freire vs. Borics |
Carlyle vs. McKee |
Kennedy vs. Pico |
Archuleta vs. Barzola |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 154-93 |
 Freire (60%) |
 McKee (84%) |
 Pico (81%) |
 Archuleta (63%) |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 165-87  2018 Champion |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
 Barzola |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 161-91 |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Barzola |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 159-93 2014 Champion |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Archuleta |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 157-95 |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Archuleta |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 156-96 |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Archuleta |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 155-97 |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Archuleta |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 155-97 |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Archuleta |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 148-104 |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Archuleta |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 147-105 2017 Champion |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Archuleta |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 138-114 |
Freire |
McKee |
 Kennedy |
Archuleta |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 123-128 |
Freire |
McKee |
Pico |
Barzola |
Bellator has touched down in Southern California this week, and the featherweight title is on the line at the top of the card.
Bellator 286 takes place Saturday at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (33-5 MMA, 21-5 BMMA), arguably the greatest fighter in Bellator history, takes on challenger [autotag]Adam Borics[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA). Freire is just a slight -150 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Borics is +115. But our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have “Pitbull” Freire as a unanimous pick at 11-0.
The co-main event features former featherweight champ [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 18-1 BMMA) – Freire’s biggest rival – in a move up to lightweight for the first time in front of his home fans in Long Beach. He’ll take on [autotag]Spike Carlyle[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) as a big 5-1 betting favorite. Not surprisingly, McKee is our second unanimous pick.
[autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] (10-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) is the biggest favorite on the main card in his featherweight bout against [autotag]Jeremy Kennedy[/autotag] (17-3 MMA, 2-1 BMMA). Pico is a -650 favorite at the betting window, but one of our 11 pickers is taking Kennedy to pull off a big upset. Pico still has a blowout in the picks at 10-1, though.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag] (25-4 MMA, 7-3 BMMA) meets [autotag]Enrique Barzola[/autotag] (19-6-2 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) in a bantamweight bout between a pair of fighters looking to rebound after getting knocked out of the ongoing 135-pound grand prix. Barzola is a slight favorite at -140, but Archuleta has a big 8-3 lead in the picks from our staff members.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Freire (60 percent), McKee (84 percent), Pico (81 percent) and Archuleta (63 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 286.
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