| Dern vs. Hill |
Hernandez vs. Shahbazyan |
Ducote vs. Godinez |
Buckley vs. Fialho |
Ferreira vs. Johnson |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 73-51 |
 Dern (79%) |
 Hernandez (54%) |
 Godinez (74%) |
 Buckley (69%) |
 Johnson (52%) |
| Matt Erickson @MattE 81-43 |
Dern |
Hernandez |
Godinez |
Buckley |
 Ferreira |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 78-46 |
Dern |
 Shahbazyan |
 Ducote |
Buckley |
Ferreira |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 77-47 |
Dern |
Shahbazyan |
Godinez |
Buckley |
Ferreira |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 74-50 |
Dern |
Hernandez |
Godinez |
Buckley |
Johnson |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 74-50 |
Dern |
Hernandez |
Ducote |
Buckley |
Ferreira |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 72-52  2014 Champion |
Dern |
Shahbazyan |
Godinez |
Buckley |
Ferreira |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway -70-54 2018, 2022 Champion |
Dern |
Shahbazyan |
Godinez |
Buckley |
Ferreira |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 68-56 |
Dern |
Shahbazyan |
Godinez |
Buckley |
Ferreira |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 68-56 |
 Hill |
Shahbazyan |
Godinez |
Buckley |
Johnson |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 68-56 |
Dern |
Shahbazyan |
Ducote |
Buckley |
Johnson |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 65-59 2017 Champion |
Dern |
Shahbazyan |
Ducote |
Buckley |
Ferreira |
The UFC is back in its “Sin City” home base with a slightly delayed women’s strawweight bout at the top of the card.
UFC Fight Night 224 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, [autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) takes on [autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag] (15-12 MMA, 10-12 UFC) in a women’s 115-pound matchup that was supposed to take place this past week at UFC on ABC 4 until it was pulled to headline this card. Jiu-jitsu ace Dern nearly is a 2-1 favorite at most sportsbooks, and she’s got a big lead in the picks from our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers, who have it as a blowout for her at 10-1.
In the co-feature, [autotag]Anthony Hernandez[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) meets [autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) in a middleweight matchup. Hernandez is a big favorite at nearly 3-1, but only three of our staff members are picking him and have Shahbazyan in an upset at 8-3.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Emily Ducote[/autotag] (12-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and [autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) fight at a 120-pound contract weight, granted due to the short notice for Godinez, who stepped in for Polyana Viana. Godinez is a mild favorite, and she’s got a 7-4 lead in the picks.
[autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is a 2-1 favorite at middleweight against [autotag]Andre Fialho[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC), and he’s also our only unanimous pick on the main card at 11-0.
And to open the main card at lightweight, [autotag]Michael Johnson[/autotag] (21-18 MMA, 13-14 UFC) will try to get back to .500 in the UFC when he takes on [autotag]Diego Ferreira[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC). Ferreira is a -150 favorite and has a big 8-3 lead from our pickers.
In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Dern (79 percent), Hernandez (54 percent), Godinez (74 percent), Buckley (69 percent) and Johnson (52 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.