The UFC is again in its Las Vegas house base this week with a former champion on the high of the invoice.
UFC on ESPN 36 takes place Saturday on the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The principle card airs on ESPN2 and streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN2/ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the primary occasion, former mild heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz (28-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) takes on Aleksandar Rakic (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC). Rakic is a 2-1 favourite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Blachowicz is +150. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are taking Rakic at a fairly excessive 8-3 clip.
Within the co-feature, Ion Cutelaba (16-6-1 MMA, 5-5-1 UFC) meets Ryan Spann (19-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in one other mild heavyweight bout. Cutelaba is a -240 favourite, but it surely’s underdog Spann with a giant 9-2 picks lead.
Additionally on the primary card, Davey Grant (11-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC will go after his fifth straight post-fight bonus award when he takes on Louis Smolka (17-8 MMA, 8-8 UFC) at bantamweight. Grant is greater than a 3-1 favourite and has a giant 8-3 edge within the picks from our employees members.
Former girls’s flyweight title challenger Katlyn Chookagian (17-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) will go after her fourth straight win when she meets Amanda Ribas (11-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC). Chookagian almost is a 2-1 favourite and solely one among our pickers is taking Ribas in an upset.
Frank Camacho (22-9 MMA, 2-5 UFC) returns after a hiatus of almost two years to tackle Manuel Torres (12-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at light-weight. Torres is a modest -130 favourite – the smallest favourite on the primary card. However he’s a near-unanimous choose at 11-1.
And to open the primary card, now we have our solely unanimous choose: -230 favourite Jake Hadley (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is an 11-0 choose towards Allan Nascimento (18-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) of their flyweight bout.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Blachowicz (56 p.c), Spann (53 p.c), Grant (80 p.c), Ribas (52 p.c), Torres (73 p.c) and Hadley (81 p.c) are the alternatives.
Try all of the picks above.
