UFC Picks: UFC 235

UFC Picks: UFC 235

This article is part of our UFC Picks series.

While UFC 234 wasn't quite what it was cracked up to be due to a late main event cancellation, the promotion is paying its debts here with an absolutely stacked card at UFC 235. First, we get two title fights, beginning with the first title defense on the latest comeback trail for Jon "Bones" Jones, who enters as a massive favorite. In the co-main, Tyron Woodley puts his belt on the line against the younger, undefeated Kamaru Usman, who is one of the hottest up-and-comers in the sport today. Fight fans also get to see the UFC debut of Ben Askren, who was acquired from ONE Championship in exchange for Demetrious Johnson. The rest of the card is an exceptional balance of young prospects and electric strikers, so let's get to it.

As a reminder, these are purely picks. If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's UFC 235 preview.

MATCHUP WEIGHT CLASS JON EVAN JAKE
Jon Jones (-800) vs.
Anthony Smith (+550)
Light Heavyweight
Championship
JonesJonesJones
Tyron Woodley (-175) vs.
Kamaru Usman (+145)
Welterweight
Championship
UsmanWoodleyWoodley
Robbie Lawler (+250) vs.
Ben Askren (-300)
WelterweightAskrenAskrenAskren
Weili Zhang (-120) vs.
Tecia Torres (+100)
Women's
Strawweight
ZhangZhangTorres
Cody Garbrandt (-165) vs.
Pedro Munhoz (+145)
BantamweightGarbrandtGarbrandtGarbrandt
RECORD 4-1 3-2 2-3
OVERALL (since UFC 200) 101-65 91-75 103-63
PERCENTAGE .608 .548 .620

 
MATCHUP WEIGHT CLASS RICHARD CHRIS
Jon Jones (-800) vs.
Anthony Smith (+550)
Light Heavyweight
Championship
JonesJones
Tyron Woodley (-175) vs.
Kamaru Usman (+145)
Welterweight
Championship
WoodleyWoodley
Robbie Lawler (+250) vs.
Ben Askren (-300)
WelterweightAskrenLawler
Weili Zhang (-120) vs.
Tecia Torres (+100)
Women's
Strawweight
TorresTorres
Cody Garbrandt (-165) vs.
Pedro Munhoz (+145)
BantamweightGarbrandtGarbrandt
RECORD 2-3 1-4
OVERALL (since UFC 200) 81-56 56-50
PERCENTAGE .591 .528

 
MATCHUP WEIGHT CLASS Joe "SunTszu" Shaun "DFSniper"
Jon Jones (-800) vs.
Anthony Smith (+550)
Light Heavyweight
Championship
JonesJones
Tyron Woodley (-175) vs.
Kamaru Usman (+145)
Welterweight
Championship
WoodleyWoodley
Robbie Lawler (+250) vs.
Ben Askren (-300)
WelterweightAskrenAskren
Weili Zhang (-120) vs.
Tecia Torres (+100)
Women's
Strawweight
TorresZhang
Cody Garbrandt (-165) vs.
Pedro Munhoz (+145)
BantamweightMunhozGarbrandt
RECORD 3-2 3-2
OVERALL (since UFC 200) 33-22 36-19
PERCENTAGE .600 .655


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: 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 @JakeSki52.
Richard Mann: Richard is a stats-based analyst that has appeared on ESPN MMA via Fightmetric. He is the primary Bellator recap writer and handles event recaps in our Fight Stat Wrap column. Follow him on Twitter at @RichardAMann.
Chris Olson: Contributor at RotoWire to "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," as well as DFS Baseball, and MMA 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 7th 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.

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