| Holloway vs. Rodriguez |
de Lima vs. Rothwell |
Letson vs. Spencer |
Baeza vs. Williams |
Arce vs. Yadong |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2021: 190-104 |
 Holloway (88%) |
 Rothwell (72%) |
 Spencer (86%) |
 Baeza (51%) |
 Yadong (81%) |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2021: 194-100 |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2021: 188-106 |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2021: 184-110  2014 Champion |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2021: 182-112 2020 Champion |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
 Arce |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2021: 182-112 |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2021: 181-113 |
Holloway |
 de Lima |
Spencer |
 Williams |
Yadong |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2021: 177-117 |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2021: 177-117 2018 Champion |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2021: 172-122 |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Arce |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2021: 171-123 2017 Champion |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2021: 169-125 |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2021: 169-125 |
Holloway |
Rothwell |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 2021: 110-68 |
Holloway |
de Lima |
Spencer |
Baeza |
Yadong |
The UFC is back home in Las Vegas this week with a former champion at the top of the lineup.
UFC Fight Night 197 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.)
In the main event, former featherweight champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (22-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC) takes on [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who is fighting for the first time in more than two years. Holloway is a huge -800 favorite at Tipico; the comeback on Rodriguez is +470. Given those odds, it’s not surprising that not a single one of our 13 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers is picking against Holloway.
In the co-feature, [autotag]Marcos Rogerio de Lima[/autotag] (18-7-1 MMA, 7-5 UFC) meets [autotag]Ben Rothwell[/autotag] (39-13 MMA, 9-7 UFC) at heavyweight. And though Rothwell only is a -165 favorite, he’s got the support of 11 of our 13 staff members.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Leah Letson[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) takes on former Invicta champion and former UFC women’s featherweight title challenger [autotag]Felicia Spencer[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC). Spencer is a big -320 favorite, and she’s our other unanimous pick.
[autotag]Miguel Baeza[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) may be just a -150 favorite at welterweight against [autotag]Khaos Williams[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), but he’s got a near-unanimous picks lead at 12-1.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag] (17-5-1 MMA, 6-1-1 UFC) is a slim -140 favorite at featherweight against [autotag]Julio Arce[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC). Yadong has most of our backing – he’s an 11-2 pick.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Holloway (88 percent), Rothwell (72 percent), Spencer (86 percent), Baeza (51 percent) and Yadong (81 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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