Oliveira vs. Poirier |
Nunes vs. Pena |
Neal vs. Ponzinibbio |
Garbrandt vs. Kara-France |
O’Malley vs. Paiva |
|
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2021: 203-116 |
Poirier (63%) |
Nunes (87%) |
Ponzinibbio (66%) |
Garbrandt (53%) |
O’Malley (82%) |
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2021: 207-112 |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Ponzinibbio |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2021: 204-115 |
Oliveira |
Nunes |
Ponzinibbio |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2021: 198-121 |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Ponzinibbio |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2021: 197-122 2014 Champion |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Neal |
Kara-France |
O’Malley |
Nolan King @mma_kings 2021: 196-123 |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Neal |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2021: 194-125 2020 Champion |
Oliveira |
Nunes |
Ponzinibbio |
Kara-France |
O’Malley |
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2021: 191-128 |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Ponzinibbio |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2021: 187-132 2018 Champion |
Oliveira |
Nunes |
Neal |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2021: 186-133 |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Neal |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2021: 185-134 |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Ponzinibbio |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2021: 184-135 2017 Champion |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Ponzinibbio |
Kara-France |
O’Malley |
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2021: 183-136 |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Ponzinibbio |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 2021: 124-79 |
Poirier |
Nunes |
Neal |
Garbrandt |
O’Malley |
The final UFC pay-per-view of the year goes down Saturday in Las Vegas with a pair of title fights atop the card.
UFC 269 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, Charles Oliveira (31-8 MMA, 19-8 UFC) puts his lightweight title on the line for the first time against former interim champ Dustin Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC). Poirier is a -150 favorite at Tipico; the comeback on Oliveira is +120. Our 13 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are taking the challenger at a big 10-3 margin.
In the co-feature, women’s bantamweight and featherweight champ Amanda Nunes (21-4 MMA, 14-1 UFC) puts her 135-pound title up against challenger Julianna Pena (10-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC). Nunes is a massive 10-1 favorite, and she’s one of two unanimous picks from our staff members.
Also on the main card, Geoff Neal (13-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) meets Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in a welterweight fight. Ponzinibbio is a slight favorite at -135, and he’s got an 8-5 edge in the picks.
Former bantamweight titleholder Cody Garbrandt (12-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) makes his long-awaited flyweight debut against Kai Kara-France (22-9 MMA, 5-2 UFC). Garbrandt is just a -145 favorite, but he’s got a big 10-3 lead from our pickers.
And to open the main card, Sean O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is our second unanimous pick in his bantamweight fight against Raulian Paiva (21-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC). O’Malley is the second biggest favorite on the main card at -340 and has a 13-0 picks shutout.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Poirier (63 percent), Nunes (87 percent), Ponzinibbio (66 percent), Garbrandt (53 percent) and O’Malley (82 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.