This article is part of our UFC Picks series.
Wake up early Saturday to enjoy some prelim cage fighting with your bacon & eggs, all leading up to the main card at 2:00 p.m. EST. Fight fans will be treated to a six-fight main card, with a lightweight title unification belt serving as the main event.
As a reminder, the following selections are purely picks. If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's 254 Preview or tune into Fight IQ live Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST on the RotoWire Youtube Channel. With FanDuel launching a MMA game as well, we also have added a new DFS Preview courtesy of Chris Olson.
| MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | JON | JAKE | CHRIS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Gaethje (+245) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (-290) | Lightweight | Khabib | Khabib | |
| Jared Cannonier (-120) vs. Robert Whittaker (+100) | Middleweight | Whittaker | Whittaker | |
| Alexander Volkov (-210) vs. Walt Harris (+175) | Heavyweight | Volkov | Volkov | Volkov |
| Jacob Malkoun (+220) vs. Phil Hawes (-260) | Middleweight | Hawes | Hawes | Hawes |
| Lauren Murphy (-240) vs. Liliya Shakirova (+200) | Women's Flyweight | Murphy | Murphy | |
| Ion Cutelaba (+230) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (-270) | Light | Ankalaev | Ankalaev | Ankalaev |
| ||||
| UFC 254 RECORD | 6-0 | 6-0 | 3-3 | |
| 2020 RECORD | 31-13 | 27-17 | 22-22 | |
| 2020 PERCENTAGE | .705 | .614 | .500 | |
| 2019 RECORD | 39-19 | 35-23 | 32-26 | |
| 2019 PERCENTAGE | .672 | .603 | .552 | |
| ALL-TIME | 165-94 | 160-99 | 130-99 | |
| ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE | .637 | .618 | .568 |
MATCHUP | WEIGHT | JOE "SUNTZU" | SHAUN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Gaethje (+245) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (-290) | Lightweight | Khabib | Khabib |
| Jared Cannonier (-120) vs. Robert Whittaker (+100) | Middleweight | Whittaker | Whittaker |
| Alexander Volkov (-210) vs. Walt Harris (+175) | Heavyweight | Volkov | Volkov |
| Jacob Malkoun (+220) vs. Phil Hawes (-260) | Middleweight | Hawes | Hawes |
| Lauren Murphy (-240) vs. Liliya Shakirova (+200) | Women's | Murphy | Murphy |
| Ion Cutelaba (+230) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (-270) | Light | Ankalaev | Ankalaev |
| |||
| UFC 254 RECORD | 6-0 | 6-0 | |
| 2020 RECORD | 30-14 | 31-13 | |
| 2020 PERCENTAGE | .682 | .705 | |
| 2019 RECORD | 34-24 | 34-24 | |
| 2019 PERCENTAGE | .586 | .586 | |
| ALL-TIME | 91-57 | 95-53 | |
| ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE | .615 | .642 |
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 of 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 DFS Baseball, our FanDuel MMA column, 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, who is currently ranked 9th in DFS MMA. 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.
