(Editor’s note: The main card fight between Ottman Azaitar and Matt Frevola was canceled on Friday during the weights. The new main card fight between Makhmud Muradov and Andrew Sanchez was added too late for the deadline. our selections.)
The UFC concludes its three-event stage for eight days on “Fight Island” with its biggest draw.
UFC 257 will take place on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The main card is issued for pay-per-view after pre-testing on ESPN and pre-testing on ESPN +.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff selection grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) meets former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) ) in a rematch of a fight won in 2014 by McGregor. McGregor is a 3-1 favorite at BetMGM and has a sizeable 10-4 lead over our 14 editors, writers, videographers, and radio hosts.
In the feature, Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler (21-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his promotional debut against Dan Hooker (20-9 MMA, 10-5 UFC). Hooker is only a slight favorite at -130, but it is Chandler with a big lead of 10-4 selections.
Joanne Calderwood (14-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) may have the odds of slimmer betting in her favor on the main card at -120 for her female flyweight bout against former title challenger Jessica Eye (15-8 MMA, 5-7 UFC), but the picks are a 13-1 blast for Calderwood.
And Amanda Ribas (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is the -350 favorite in her women’s weightlifting bout against Marina Rodriguez (12-1-2 MMA, 2-1-2 UFC). Ribas is our only unanimous choice and is also the biggest favorite of our readers, with a huge percentage of 94%.
In the consensus selections of MMA addict readers, McGregor (62%), Hooker (57%), Calderwood (58%) and Ribas (94%) are the options.
See all of the above selections.