Bellator 286 predictions: Two unanimous picks – but is Patricio Freire one of them?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the Bellator 286 main card, featuring Patricio Freire vs. Adam Borics, plus the return of A.J. McKee.

Freire
vs.
Borics
Carlyle
vs.
McKee
Kennedy
vs.
Pico
Archuleta
vs.
Barzola
MMA Junkie readers’
consensus picks
154-93
freire2022
Freire
(60%)
mckee2022
McKee
(84%)
pico2022
Pico
(81%)
archuleta2022
Archuleta
(63%)
Ken Hathaway
@kenshathaway
165-87
trophy copy 2018 Champion
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
barzola2022
Barzola
Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze
161-91
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
barzola2022
Barzola
Mike Bohn
@MikeBohn
159-93
trophy copy 2014 Champion
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
archuleta2022
Archuleta
Matthew Wells
@MrMWells
157-95
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
archuleta2022
Archuleta
Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun
156-96
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
archuleta2022
Archuleta
Matt Erickson
@MMAjunkieMatt
155-97
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
archuleta2022
Archuleta
Simon Samano
@SJSamano
155-97
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
archuleta2022
Archuleta
Nolan King
@mma_kings
148-104
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
archuleta2022
Archuleta
Brian Garcia
@thegoze
147-105
trophy copy 2017 Champion
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
archuleta2022
Archuleta
George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
138-114
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
kennedy2022
Kennedy
archuleta2022
Archuleta
Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv
123-128
freire2022
Freire
mckee2022
McKee
pico2022
Pico
barzola2022
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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