This article is part of our UFC Picks series.
A UFC featherweight title fight without Cris Cyborg? Yes, you read that right. The promotion will return Saturday after a long layoff to offer fans a chance to witness history with the crowning of a new champion in a new division. Taking nothing away from Holly Holm or Germaine de Randamie, the winner of this fight is destined to face Cyborg one way or another. When that day arrives, the champion will enter as an underdog to one of the best female fighters of all time.Speaking of legends, the 41-year-old Anderson Silva hasn't came away with a victory in any of his last five fights. He'll look to get back on the winning track against the No. 8-ranked Derek Brunson.
See how the RotoWire MMA Staff picks the two aforementioned fights, as well as the rest of the pay-per-view card, below.
If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's UFC 208 preview.
MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | JON | EVAN | JAKE | RICHARD |
Germaine de Randamie (-125) vs. Holly Holm (+105) | Women's Featherweight | de Randamie | de Randamie | de Randamie | |
Anderson Silva (+130) vs. Derek Brunson (-150) | Middleweight | Silva | Silva | Silva | |
Ronaldo Souza (-500) vs. Tim Boetsch (+400) | Middleweight | Souza | Souza | Souza | Souza |
Glover Teixeira (-185) vs. Jared Cannonier (+160) | Light Heavyweight | Teixeira | Teixeira | Teixeira | Teixeira |
Dustin Poirier (-450) vs. Jim Miller (+360) | Lightweight | Poirier | Poirier | Poirier | Poirier |
RECORD | 4-1 | 5-0 | 4-1 | 5-0 | |
OVERALL (since UFC 200) | 34-22 | 29-27 | 35-21 | 19-8 |
THE PLAYERS
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.
Evan Dahl: Pens our bi-weekly MMA Barometer column. Follow him on Twitter at @RealEvanDahl.
Jake Letarski: MMA and NCAA Hoops Senior Editor. Sirius XM contributor. Host of the RotoWire MMA Podcast, RotoWire Fantasy Football Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JakeSki52.
Richard Mann: New to the RotoWire MMA staff, Richard is a stats-based analyst that has appeared on ESPN MMA via Fightmetric. He handles event recaps in our Fight Stat Wrap column, and maintains his own, data-driven MMA blog at StrikescoreMMA.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichardAMann.
Strongly disagree with any of our picks? Let us know in the comments!