UFC 225 is a stacked pay-per-view event from Chicago and Cageside Press has their picks set (and they’ve made championship weight).
| Staff Writers | Punk vs. Jackson | Arlovski vs. Tuivasa | Holm vs. Anderson | Dos Anjos vs. Covington | Whittaker vs. Romero |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (62-30) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Paarth Pande (62-30) |  | |  | |  |
| Mike Straus (59-33) | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (55-32) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (58-34) | | | |  | |
| Jesse Gillette (50-32) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (53-34) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (51-41) | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (49-43) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (15-6) | | | | | |
UFC 225’s main event changed course ever so slightly when challenger Yoel Romero missed weight for the second fight in a row, this time by 0.2 pounds. Champion Robert Whittaker has agreed to still fight him, but a title will not be on the line. This will be Whittaker’s first title defense since winning the belt over Romero in an interim title fight last July. Romero since then has knocked out Luke Rockhold to earn another shot at gold. Four of 10 writers believe Romero will have his hand raised this time around.
Colby Covington and Rafael dos Anjos will battle for the interim welterweight title while Tyron Woodley recovers from a shoulder injury. Both men have been on great runs at 170 pounds. RDA has defeated three opponents including Robbie Lawler since moving up, while Covington has defeated his last five opponents. All but one writer picked the former lightweight champion dos Anjos.
Holly Holm will welcome Megan Anderson to the UFC. Anderson has knocked out her last four opponents in Invicta FC, winning their featherweight title. Holm has gone 1-4 since defeating Ronda Rousey in one of the greatest upsets ever, last losing to Cris Cyborg. Seven of 10 writers went with Holm.
Tai Tuivasa looks to continue his heavyweight rise against Andrei Arlovski. Tuivasa is 7-0 with seven knockouts, two of which were in the UFC. The Aussie looks to be a future star at 265 pounds, and aims to be the beneficiary of a changing of the guard tonight. Arlovski has been hot and cold on his current UFC run. The former heavyweight champion won his first four fights upon returning to the Octagon, then lost five in a row, and now has won two in a row. Cageside Press unanimously picked Tuivasa, breaking Arlovski’s streak.
CM Punk tries it again in the main card opener. Both him and opponent Mike Jackson are 0-1 with the loss coming to Mickey Gall. Of course, Punk is a former WWE champion trying his hand at MMA while Jackson is an MMA journalist by day. Four writers picked Punk to get the win in his hometown.
