UFC Auckland is not the prettiest card on paper, but the heavyweight main event is must-see. Here are Cageside Press’ picks.
UFC Auckland pits hard-hitting heavyweights Mark Hunt and Derrick Lewis in the main event in front of Hunt’s home crowd. Unlikely contender Dan Kelly will meet the struggling Derek Brunson in the night’s co-headliner.
UFC 212 was a great event for the Cageside Press staff, with seven of the eight writers picking over half the fights correctly. A pair of writers went 4-1, and five writers followed with a 3-2 slate. There was one lone writer at 2-3.
The fights being picked this week are:
- Derrick Lewis vs. Mark Hunt
- Derek Brunson vs. Dan Kelly
- Dan Hooker vs. Ross Pearson
- Ion Cutelaba vs. Luiz Henrique da Silva
- Tim Elliott vs. Ben Nguyen
- Alex Volkanovski vs. Mizuto Hirota
Check out our picks below and be sure to scroll to the right to see every pick.
| Staff Writers | Volkanovski vs. Hirota | Elliott vs. Nguyen | Cutelaba vs. Da Silva | Pearson vs. Hooker | Brunson vs. Kelly | Lewis vs. Hunt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (12-4) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Harry Davies (11-5) | | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (10-6) | | | |  |  |  |
| Mike McClory (6-4) | | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (9-7) | |  | | | | |
| Eddie Law (9-7) | | | | | | |
Alex Volkanovski and Ion Cutelaba were both unanimous choices by the staff. Only one writer picked against Derrick Lewis and Tim Elliott respectively. Ross Pearson is favored by four of six writers to welcome Dan Hooker to the lightweight division successfully. Lastly, the staff was split for the co-main event between Dan Kelly and Derek Brunson.
