| Santos vs. Teixeira |
Arlovski vs. Boser |
Barcelos vs. Taha |
Allen vs. Heinisch |
Gadelha vs. Xiaonan |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 137-81 |
 Santos (72%) |
 Boser (71%) |
 Barcelos (83%) |
 Allen (51%) |
 Gadelha (53%) |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 148-70 |
 Teixeira |
Boser |
Barcelos |
Allen |
 Xiaonan |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 147-71 |
Santos |
Boser |
Barcelos |
Allen |
Gadelha |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 146-72 |
Santos |
 Arlovski |
Barcelos |
 Heinisch |
Gadelha |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 146-72 |
Santos |
Boser |
 Taha |
Allen |
Gadelha |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 143-75  2014 Champion |
Santos |
Boser |
Barcelos |
Allen |
Gadelha |
| Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 142-76 2019 Champion* |
Santos |
Boser |
Barcelos |
Allen |
Xiaonan |
| Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 141-77 |
Santos |
Arlovski |
Barcelos |
Heinisch |
Gadelha |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 140-78 2017 Champion |
Santos |
Boser |
Barcelos |
Heinisch |
Gadelha |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 138-80 |
Santos |
Arlovski |
Barcelos |
Allen |
Xiaonan |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 136-82 2018 Champion |
Santos |
Boser |
Barcelos |
Heinisch |
Xiaonan |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 136-82 |
Santos |
Boser |
Barcelos |
Allen |
Xiaonan |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 134-84 |
Santos |
Boser |
Taha |
Allen |
Gadelha |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 134-84 |
Santos |
Arlovski |
Barcelos |
Allen |
Xiaonan |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 83-135 |
Teixeira |
Arlovski |
Taha |
Heinisch |
Gadelha |
The UFC is back in its home base this week with a pair of former title challengers in the main event.
UFC on ESPN+ 40 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]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (21-7 MMA, 13-6 UFC) takes on [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag] (31-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) at light heavyweight. The winner will stay in the title picture. Santos is more a -250 favorite at BetMGM; the comeback on Teixeira is +200. Among our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts, only two are taking Teixeira in an upset.
In the co-feature, former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag] (29-19 MMA, 18-13 UFC) takes on [autotag]Tanner Boser[/autotag] (19-6-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC). Boser is a -313 favorite, but he has just a 9-5 lead over Arlovski in the picks.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Raoni Barcelos[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) meets [autotag]Khalid Taha[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a bantamweight bout. Barcelos is a heavy -371 favorite and has a big 11-3 picks lead.
[autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) fights [autotag]Ian Heinisch[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in a middleweight bout that is a pick’em with the oddsmakers. It’s close among our pickers, too, with an 8-6 lead for Allen.
And to open the main card, former women’s strawweight title challenger [autotag]Claudia Gadelha[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) takes on [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC). Xiaonan is a -162 favorite, but it’s Gadelha with an 8-6 picks lead.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Santos (72 percent), Boser (71 percent), Barcelos (83 percent), Allen (51 percent) and Gadelha (53 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.