McGregor vs. Cerrone |
Holm vs. Pennington |
Greene vs. Oleinik |
Ferreira vs. Pettis |
|
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2019: 233-130 (64.19%) |
McGregor (53%) |
Holm (82%) |
Oleinik (64%) |
Pettis (63%) |
Simon Head @simonhead 2019: 149-72 (67.42%) 2019 Champion* |
McGregor |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Pettis |
Nolan King @mma_kings 2019: 141-75 (65.28%) |
McGregor |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Pettis |
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2019: 236-127 (65.01%) 2018 Champion |
Cerrone |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Pettis |
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2019: 235-128 (64.74%) |
McGregor |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Pettis |
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2019: 234-129 (64.46%) |
Cerrone |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Ferreira |
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2019: 234-129 (64.46%) 2017 Champion |
McGregor |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Ferreira |
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2019: 132-78 (62.86%) |
McGregor |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Pettis |
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2019: 228-135 (62.81%) 2014 Champion |
Cerrone |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Ferreira |
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2019: 228-135 (62.81%) |
McGregor |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Ferreira |
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2019: 225-138 (61.98%) |
McGregor |
Pennington |
Oleinik |
Pettis |
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2019: 223-140 (61.43%) |
McGregor |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Pettis |
Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2019: 157-114 (57.93%) |
McGregor |
Holm |
Oleinik |
Pettis |
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2019: 186-177 (51.24%) |
McGregor |
Holm |
Greene |
Pettis |
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2019: 0-0 |
McGregor |
Holm |
Greene |
Ferreira |
The UFC kicks off 2020 with the return of its most bankable fighter.
UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, former dual champion [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) returns after a 15-month layoff to take on [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC) in a welterweight bout. McGregor is more than a 3-1 favorite from the oddsmakers, and he’s the pick of 11 of our 14 MMA Junkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers.
In the co-main event, former women’s bantamweight champ [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (12-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) takes on [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] (10-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC). Holm is just a slight favorite, but she’s got a massive 13-1 lead in the picks with just one staff member taking Pennington in an upset.
At heavyweight, [autotag]Maurice Greene[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is a slight favorite against [autotag]Aleksei Oleinik[/autotag] (57-13-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC). But it’s Oleinik who has a whopping 12-2 lead in the picks.
And to open the main card, former lightweight champ [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (22-9 MMA, 9-8 UFC) is a sizable underdog against [autotag]Diego Ferreira[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who has won six straight fights. But it’s Pettis with a 9-5 lead in the picks.
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A women’s strawweight fight between [autotag]Claudia Gadelha[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] (11-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) was scheduled for the main card. But after Grasso missed weight by 5.5 pounds at Friday’s weigh-ins and came in at 121.5, the fight was canceled by the Nevada Athletic Commission. Grasso had been a 10-4 pick over Gadelha from our staff members in the fight, though it was Gadelha with a big 72 percent number from our readers..
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, McGregor (53%), Holm (82 percent), Oleinik (64 percent) and Pettis (63 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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