This article is part of our UFC Picks series.
Update: Saturday's main event between Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg has been cancelled after Borg came down with an illness Thursday evening and couldn't get cleared by doctors. The UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship matchup between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko will take over as the main event.With the Mayweather/McGregor saga finally in the books, the UFC is returning to normalcy with their first pay-per-view card since July set to take place Saturday in Edmonton. In the main event, the greatest pound-for-pound fighter on the roster, Demetrious Johnson, is a heavy favorite in his attempt to break Anderson Silva's all-time consecutive title defense record. The co-main event features another title fight -- a re-booking of the Women's Bantamweight Championship matchup that was originally scheduled for UFC 213 in July. An illness rendered Amanda Nunes unable to compete in her scheduled rematch with Valentina Shevchenko, much to the dismay of UFC President Dana White. The two have been rescheduled for Saturday, along with a pay-view-card filled with intriguing matchups and Fight of the Night candidates. Check out how the RotoWire MMA staff sees the card playing out.
If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's UFC 215 preview.
MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | JON | EVAN | JAKE |
Ray Borg (+700) | ||||
(C) Amanda Nunes (+100) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (-125) | Women's Bantamweight Championship | Nunes | Nunes | Nunes |
Neil Magny (+160) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (-190) | Welterweight | Dos Anjos | Dos Anjos | |
Ilir Latifi (+110) vs. Tyson Pedro (-130) | Light Heavyweight | Latifi | ||
Jeremy Stephens (-115) vs. Gilbert Melendez (-110) | Featherweight | Stephens | Stephens | |
RECORD | 2-2 | 4-0 | 2-2 | |
OVERALL (since UFC 200) | 49-35 | 46-38 | 52-32 | |
PERCENTAGE | .583 | .548 | .619 |
MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | RICHARD | CHRIS | JASON |
Ray Borg (+700) | ||||
(C) Amanda Nunes (+100) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (-125) | Women's Bantamweight Championship | Nunes | ||
Neil Magny (+160) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (-190) | Welterweight | Dos Anjos | Dos Anjos | Dos Anjos |
Ilir Latifi (+110) vs. Tyson Pedro (-130) | Light Heavyweight | Latifi | ||
Jeremy Stephens (-115) vs. Gilbert Melendez (-110) | Featherweight | Stephens | ||
RECORD | 2-2 | 2-2 | 2-2 | |
OVERALL (since UFC 200) | 34-21 | 12-12 | 11-13 | |
PERCENTAGE | .618 | .500 | .440 |
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 and RotoWire DFS Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JakeSki52.
Richard Mann: 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.
Chris Olson: Contributor at RotoWire for DFS Baseball, as well as MMA fight recaps. Follow him on Twitter at @RealChrisOlson.
Jason Rubin: Host of TYT Sports on YouTube and writer of our Handicapping The NBA column on RotoWire. Follow him on Twitter at @jasonrubin91.
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