| Blaydes vs. Daukaus |
Grasso vs. Wood |
Barberena vs. Brown |
Askarov vs. Kara-France |
Latifi vs. Oleinik |
Borshchev vs. Diakiese |
|
|
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 47-19 |
 Blaydes (75%) |
 Grasso (79%) |
 Brown (72%) |
 Askarov (64%) |
 Latifi (51%) |
 Borshchev (76%) |
|
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 45-21 |
Blaydes |
 Wood |
Brown |
Askarov |
 Oleinik |
Borshchev |
|
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 44-22  2014 Champion
|
Blaydes |
Grasso |
Brown |
Askarov |
Latifi |
Borshchev |
|
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 44-22 2018 Champion
|
Blaydes |
Wood |
Brown |
Askarov |
Oleinik |
Borshchev |
|
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 43-23 |
Blaydes |
Grasso |
Brown |
Askarov |
Latifi |
Borshchev |
|
Simon Samano @SJSamano 42-24 |
Blaydes |
Grasso |
Brown |
Askarov |
Latifi |
 Diakiese |
|
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 41-25 |
Blaydes |
Grasso |
Brown |
Askarov |
Latifi |
Diakiese |
|
Nolan King @mma_kings 41-25 |
Blaydes |
Grasso |
 Barberena |
Askarov |
Latifi |
Borshchev |
|
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 40-26 |
Blaydes |
Wood |
Brown |
Askarov |
Oleinik |
Borshchev |
|
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 39-27 |
Blaydes |
Grasso |
Barberena |
Askarov |
Latifi |
Borshchev |
|
brian Garcia @thegoze 38-28 2017 Champion
|
Blaydes |
Grasso |
Brown |
 Kara-France |
Latifi |
Diakiese |
|
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 28-38 |
Blaydes |
Grasso |
Brown |
Askarov |
Latifi |
Borshchev |
The UFC makes its long-awaited return to Ohio this week with a heavyweight bout at the top of the bill.
UFC on ESPN 33 takes place Saturday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, Curtis Blaydes (15-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) takes on Chris Daukaus (12-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at heavyweight. Blaydes is a heavy -450 favorite at Tipico; the comeback on Daukaus is +310. With Blaydes the biggest favorite on the main card, it’s no surprise our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have him in our only unanimous pick at 11-0.
In the co-feature, Alexa Grasso (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) is a -250 favorite in her women’s strawweight bout against Joanne Wood (15-7 MMA, 7-7 UFC). Grasso has a big 8-3 lead in our picks.
Also on the main card, hometown fan favorite Matt Brown (23-18 MMA, 16-12 UFC) nearly is a unanimous pick against Bryan Barberena (16-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) in their welterweight bout. Although Barberena is a -115 favorite to -110 to Brown, Brown has a 10-1 rout in the picks.
Askar Askarov (14-0-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC) is a -420 favorite at flyweight against Kai Kara-France (23-9 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and is a near-unanimous pick at 10-1.
Ilir Latifi (15-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) takes on Aleksei Oleinik (59-16-1 MMA, 8-7 UFC) in a heavyweight bout. Latifi is a -210 favorite at the betting window, and he’s got an 8-3 lead in the picks.
And to open the main card, Viacheslav Borshchev (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is a mild -160 favorite against Marc Diakiese (14-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC), and he has a big 8-3 picks lead.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Blaydes (75 percent), Grasso (79 percent), Brown (72 percent), Askarov (64 percent), Latifi (51 percent) and Borshchev (76 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
