RotoWire Expert Picks: UFC 286 Main Card

RotoWire Expert Picks: UFC 286 Main Card

This article is part of our UFC Picks series.

We have an early pay-per-view card taking place Saturday in London, headlined by a warrior in Leon Edwards who is looking to prove his late, head-kick knockout against former pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman was not a fluke. If you're not hyped yet, this promo cut tells the full story behind what's expected to be an incredible trilogy fight.

As a reminder, the following selections are purely picks. If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights, check out the MMA Mashup from Chris Olson or our DraftKings UFC 286 preview courtesy of Jon Litterine. We also have a MMA DFS Lineup Optimizer to try if you're looking to try out different combinations of fighters or generate multiple lineups.

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 

CLASS

JONJAKECHRIS
(C) Leon Edwards (+195) vs.
Kamaru Usman (-230)

Welterweight
Championship

UsmanUsamanUsman
Justin Gaethje (+195) vs.
Rafael Fiziev (-230)

Lightweight

FizievFizievFiziev
Gunnar Nelson (-380) vs.
Bryan Barberena (+310)

Welterweight

NelsonBarberenaNelson
Jennifer Maia (+150) vs.
Casey O'Neill (-175)

Women's
Flyweight

O'NeillO'NeillO'Neill
Marvin Vettori (-265) vs.
Roman Dolidze (+225)

Middleweight

DolidzeDolidzeVettori
 

 

   
     
UFC 286 RECORD 1-40-52-3
2023 RECORD 11-911-910-10
2023 PERCENTAGE .550.550.500
2022 RECORD 34-2740-2125-26
2022 PERCENTAGE .557.656.490
2021 RECORD 35-2842-2137-26
2021 PERCENTAGE .556.667.586
2020 RECORD 36-1834-2028-26
2020 PERCENTAGE .667.630.519
2019 RECORD 39-1935-2332-26
2019 PERCENTAGE .672.603.552
ALL-TIME  250-163259-154 203-161
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .605.627.555

 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 
CLASS

JOE

"SUNTZU"

SHAUN 
"TheDFSniper"

(C) Leon Edwards (+195) vs.
Kamaru Usman (-230)

Welterweight
Championship

UsmanUsman
Justin Gaethje (+195) vs.
Rafael Fiziev (-230)

Lightweight

GaethjeFiziev
Gunnar Nelson (-380) vs.
Bryan Barberena (+310)

Welterweight

NelsonNelson
Jennifer Maia (+150) vs.
Casey O'Neill (-175)

Women's
Flyweight

O'NeillO'Neill
Marvin Vettori (-265) vs.
Roman Dolidze (+225)

Middleweight

VettoriDolidze
 

 

  
    
UFC 286 RECORD 3-21-4
2023 RECORD 10-1012-8
2023 PERCENTAGE .500.600
2022 RECORD 38-2339-22
2022 PERCENTAGE .623.639
2021 RECORD 38-2536-27
2021 PERCENTAGE .603.571
2020 RECORD 36-1838-16
2020 PERCENTAGE .667.704
2019 RECORD 34-2434-24
2019 PERCENTAGE .586.586
ALL-TIME 183-119189-113
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .606.626

 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 
CLASS

COLE     

DRAKE

(C) Leon Edwards (+195) vs.
Kamaru Usman (-230)

Welterweight
Championship

UsmanUsman
Justin Gaethje (+195) vs.
Rafael Fiziev (-230)

Lightweight

FizievGaethje
Gunnar Nelson (-380) vs.
Bryan Barberena (+310)

Welterweight

NelsonNelson
Jennifer Maia (+150) vs.
Casey O'Neill (-175)

Women's
Flyweight

O'NeillO'Neill
Marvin Vettori (-265) vs.
Roman Dolidze (+225)

Middleweight

VettoriDolidze
 

 

  
    
UFC 286 RECORD 2-32-3
2023 RECORD 12-810-10
2023 PERCENTAGE .600.500
2022 RECORD 39-2239-22
2022 PERCENTAGE .639.639
2021 RECORD 43-2117-14
2021 PERCENTAGE .672.548
2020 RECORD N/AN/A
2020 PERCENTAGE N/AN/A
2019 RECORD N/AN/A
2019 PERCENTAGE N/AN/A
ALL-TIME 91-4966-46
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .650.589

THE PICKERS

Jon Litterine: RotoWire lead MMA beat writer and scribe for our weekly DrafKings preview. Lead analyst on the RotoWire MMA Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JonLitterine.

Jake Letarski: RotoWire.com Operations Manager, plus MMA and NCAA Hoops Senior Editor. Host on the RotoWire MMA Podcast and guest on the RotoWire Fantasy Football Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @RotoJake.

Chris Olson: Contributor at RotoWire to "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," as well as The MMA Mashup, DFS Baseball, a MMA gambling columnist and fight recaps. Follow him on Twitter at @RealChrisOlson.

Joe "SunTszu": Known more commonly by his Twitter handle @SunTszu, Joe is a Hedge Fund Executive by day and high-volume DFS player by night. He is a 2x "Bracket Challenge" & "Gotham qualifier. You can also find him as one of the original contributors of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He is also a co-creator of the "Creating Alpha in DFS" podcast.

@theDFSniper: @theDFSniper is the host and lead instigator of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He also appears on the LoudMouth MMA podcast and contributes soccer content to DFS Army.

Cole Shelton: Cole Shelton is a full-time sports writer focusing on MMA. His work has appeared on BJPenn.com, CBC Sports, Sports Betting Dime and Blue Jays Nation. He currently pens the MMA Best Bets column on RotoWire. Follow him on Twitter at @ColeShelton91.

Drake Burden: Drake is a proven DFS winner with multiple four-figure paydays under his belt. He took an interest to writing MMA during the pandemic and is active in various Discords and other social media communities. Follow him on Twitter at @DBurdz.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jake Letarski
RotoWire Editor for College Basketball and MMA. Frequent podcaster, plus radio and video guest. Follow Jake on Twitter at @RotoJake.
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