A highly-anticipated welterweight title fight headlines UFC 228, and Cageside Press has their picks set for the pay-per-view card.
| Staff Writers | Alhassan vs. Price | Magomedsharipov vs. Davis | Andrade vs. Kowalkiewicz | Woodley vs. Till |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (87-46) |  |  |  |  |
| Dan Doherty (87-52) | | | | |
| Paarth Pande (86-53) | | | |  |
| Josh Evanoff (38-24) | | | | |
| Eddie Law (74-48) | | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (78-51) | | | | |
| Mike Straus (83-56) | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (79-60) | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (71-57) | | | | |
| Mike McClory (67-63) | | | | |
The UFC 228 main event pits Tyron Woodley against brash Liverpool native Darren Till with the welterweight title on the line. Woodley was originally planned to return to the Octagon against interim champion Colby Covington, but Covington underwent minor surgery that kept him out of the bout. The champion has defended his belt three times against Stephen Thompson twice and Demian Maia. Till is undefeated through 18 career fights, most recently beating Donald Cerrone and Stephen Thompson. Seven of 10 writers sided with the champion.
Jessica Andrade and Karolina Kowalkiewicz battle for top contender status in the strawweight division in the co-main event. Since falling to Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Andrade defeated two very respected contenders in Claudia Gadelha and Tecia Torres. Kowalkiewicz is 2-1 since her title fight, falling to Gadelha and besting Jodie Esquibel and Felice Herrig. The staff unanimously selected Andrade.
Zabit Magomedsharipov’s rise continues against Brandon Davis. The Russian has been spectacular in the UFC, going 3-0 and providing guaranteed entertainment with his spinning style. Davis, while a fun fighter to watch, is 1-2 since joining the promotion through the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series. Zabit was another unanimous pick by the staff.
Opening up the main card is a fun matchup between Abdul Razak Alhassan and Niko Price. Price has finished five of his six opponents in the Octagon, winning two consecutive fights. Alhassan has won three of his four fights in the UFC via first-round knockout. Yet another unanimous pick was made in this one, with all writers favoring Niko Price.
Due to the late removal of the co-main event between Nicco Montano and Valentina Shevchenko and Nicco Montano, no picks were recorded for the bout between Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson.
