| Edgar vs. C. Jung |
Oezdemir vs. Rakic |
Choi vs. Jourdain |
D. Jung vs. Rodriguez |
Barriault vs. Park |
Kang vs. Pingyuan |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2019: 210-125 (63%) |
 C. Jung (64%) |
 Rakic (61%) |
 Choi (89%) |
 D. Jung (65%) |
 Barriault (57%) |
 Kang (76%) |
| Simon Head @simonhead 2019: 127-66 (66%) |
C. Jung |
Rakic |
Choi |
D. Jung |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2019: 121-67 (64%) |
C. Jung |
Rakic |
Choi |
 Rodriguez |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2019: 215-120 (64%) |
C. Jung |
Rakic |
Choi |
D. Jung |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2019: 214-121 (64%) |
C. Jung |
Rakic |
Choi |
D. Jung |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2019: 214-121 (64%)  2017 Champion |
 Edgar |
Rakic |
Choi |
Rodriguez |
Barriault |
Kang |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2019: 212-123 (63%) |
C. Jung |
Rakic |
Choi |
Rodriguez |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2019: 210-125 (63%) |
C. Jung |
 Oezdemir |
Choi |
D. Jung |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2019: 207-128 (62%) 2014 Champion |
C. Jung |
Oezdemir |
Choi |
Rodriguez |
Barriault |
Kang |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2019: 206-129 (61%) |
Edgar |
Rakic |
Choi |
Rodriguez |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2019: 110-72 (60%) |
C. Jung |
Oezdemir |
Choi |
D. Jung |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2019: 201-134 (60%) |
C. Jung |
Rakic |
Choi |
D. Jung |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2019: 137-106 (56%) |
C. Jung |
Rakic |
Choi |
D. Jung |
Barriault |
Kang |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2019: 175-160 (52%) |
Edgar |
Oezdemir |
 Jourdain |
Rodriguez |
Barriault |
 Pingyuan |
The UFC touches down in South Korea this week, and a home-country hero headlines the show.
UFC on ESPN+ 23 takes place Saturday at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea. 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, former lightweight champion [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) is putting off his planned move to bantamweight to stay at featherweight to take on [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) on short notice. “The Korean Zombie” is nearly a 2-1 favorite in front of his home fans against Edgar. Our 13 MMA Junkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are taking Jung at a sizable 10-3 clip.
In the co-main event, former light heavyweight title challenger [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) meets [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who is about a -150 favorite. He’s also the favorite of the majority of our staff pickers at 9-4.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Dooho Choi[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who is from Busan, gets a home fight at featherweight against [autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC). He’s more than a 3-1 favorite, and only one of our pickers is going against him.
[autotag]Da Un Jung[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is a slight underdog in front of his home fans against [autotag]Mike Rodriguez[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) in a light heavyweight bout. It’s our most contentious fight on the card – Jung has a 7-6 edge in the picks.
The only unanimous pick in Busan goes to [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag] (11-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC). Despite not having a UFC win yet, all 13 of our pickers are taking him to beat South Korea’s own [autotag]Jun Yong Park[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC). Barriault is a slight betting favorite.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Kyung Ho Kang[/autotag] (16-8 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has a 12-1 blowout lead in the picks in his bantamweight fight against [autotag]Liu Pingyuan[/autotag] (15-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC).
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, C. Jung (64%), Rakic (91 percent), Choi (89 percent), D. Jung (65 percent), Barriault (57 percent) and Kang (76 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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