| Blaydes vs. Lewis |
Kunitskaya vs. Vieira |
Minner vs. Rosa |
Daukaus vs. Oleinik |
Hawes vs. Imavov |
Arlovski vs. Aspinall |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2021: 12-11 |
 Blaydes (58%) |
 Vieira (66%) |
 Rosa (78%) |
 Oleinik (66%) |
 Hawes (76%) |
 Aspinall (56%) |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2021: 15-8  2017 Champion |
 Lewis |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Oleinik |
 Imavov |
 Arlovski |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2021: 15-8 |
Blaydes |
Vieira |
Rosa |
 Daukaus |
Imavov |
Arlovski |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2021: 15-8 |
Lewis |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Oleinik |
Hawes |
Arlovski |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2021: 14-9 2020 Champion |
Lewis |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Daukaus |
Hawes |
Aspinall |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2021: 14-9 |
Lewis |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Daukaus |
Hawes |
Aspinall |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2021: 14-9 2014 Champion |
Blaydes |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Oleinik |
Imavov |
Aspinall |
| Simon Head @simonhead 2021: 12-11 2019 Champion* |
Blaydes |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Daukaus |
Hawes |
Aspinall |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2021: 12-11 2018 Champion |
Lewis |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Daukaus |
Hawes |
Aspinall |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2021: 11-12 |
Lewis |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Daukaus |
Hawes |
Aspinall |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2021: 11-12 |
Blaydes |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Daukaus |
Hawes |
Aspinall |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2021: 11-12 |
Blaydes |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Oleinik |
Hawes |
Aspinall |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2021: 11-12 |
Blaydes |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Daukaus |
Hawes |
Aspinall |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2021: 10-13 |
Blaydes |
Vieira |
Rosa |
Daukaus |
Imavov |
Arlovski |
The UFC stays in its home base this week with a key heavyweight bout atop the bill.
UFC Fight Night 185 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
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In the main event, [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) takes on former heavyweight title challenger [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] (24-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC). The winner is expected to stay in the hunt for a title shot. Blaydes is the biggest favorite on the entire card at -450 at BetMGM, but he’s only got a narrow 7-6 picks lead from our 13 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts.
In the co-feature, [autotag]Yana Kunitskaya[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) takes on [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in a key women’s bantamweight fight. Vieira is a -275 favorite at the betting window, and she’s one of two unanimous picks on our main card at 13-0.
The other unanimous pick is [autotag]Charles Rosa[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) in his featherweight bout against [autotag]Darrick Minner[/autotag] (25-11 MMA, 1-1 UFC). Rosa only is a mild favorite at -190, but he’s got unanimous love from our staff members.
[autotag]Chris Daukaus[/autotag] (10-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is a 2-1 favorite in his heavyweight bout against [autotag]Aleksei Oleinik[/autotag] (59-14-1 MMA, 8-5 UFC), and he’s got a decent lead in the picks at 9-4.
The closest fight on the main card from an odds perspective is between [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and [autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at middleweight. Hawes is just a slight favorite at -125, but he’s got a sizable picks lead at 9-4.
And to open the main card, former heavyweight champion [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag] (30-19 MMA, 19-13 UFC) meets [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC). Aspinall is a -250 favorite and has a 9-4 lead in the picks.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Blaydes (58 percent), Vieira (66 percent), Rosa (78 percent), Oleinik (66 percent), Hawes (76 percent) and Aspinall (56 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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