MMA bursts into the month of November with UFC 230 from Madison Square Garden and a heavyweight title in the main event. Cageside Press has their picks set for the card.
| Staff Writers | Brunson vs. Adesanya | Roberson vs. Marshman | Branch vs. Cannonier | Weidman vs. Souza | Cormier vs. Lewis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (113-59) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Dan Doherty (113-65) |  | | | |  |
| Paarth Pande (105-64) | |  |  | | |
| Eddie Law (99-62) | | | | | |
| Mike Straus (106-72) | | | |  | |
| Josh Evanoff (53-38) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (100-78) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (88-69) | | | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (94-74) | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (87-78) | | | | | |
The main event of UFC 230 is the Popeye’s Chicken match between Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis. Also, Cormier’s heavyweight title will be on the line. Derrick Lewis fought very recently at UFC 229, miraculously knocking out Alexander Volkov with less than 15 seconds remaining in a one-sided fight that favored Volkov. With this event needing a headliner, Lewis stepped up despite injuries to face Daniel Cormier. Cormier is a two-division champion, owning the light heavyweight championship since 2015 (despite losing to Jon Jones since then), then knocking out Stipe Miocic in the first round in July to win the heavyweight belt. All but two writers picked the double-champ Cormier.
The co-main event of the card is a matchup between middleweight contenders Chris Weidman and Jacare Souza. Weidman returned to his prime form against Kelvin Gastelum in his last appearance back in July 2017, submitting his opponent in the third round and snapping a three-fight losing streak. Souza started off his UFC career by building an eight-fight win streak that carried over from Strikeforce. Unfortunately, that did not result in a title shot, losing to Yoel Romero. Since the streak, Souza is 3-3, losing to Gastelum in his last bout. Weidman was picked by six of 10 writers.
David Branch was a victim of the UFC 230 shuffle. Branch was originally set to fight Jacare Souza, but Luke Rockhold (who was supposed to be in the co-main event) pulled out of the card. As a result, Jacare was slotted in to face Weidman, leaving Branch opponent-less, until light heavyweight Jared Cannonier stepped up. Cannonier is 1-3 in his last four and is looking for a change of scenery by dropping to middleweight. Branch earned a slight six-four majority in the picks.
Karl Roberson and Jack Marshman look to return to the win column in New York. Marshman is 2-2 since joining the UFC, losing by submission to Antonio Carlos Junior in his last bout. Roberson earned his spot in the promotion with a 15-second knockout on the DWTNCS. Since then, he’s 1-1, winning by first-round submission and losing by first-round submission. Marshman was picked by six of 10 writers.
Opening up the UFC 230 main card is a bout between middleweight contenders Derek Brunson and Israel Adesanya. Brunson was on a two-fight win streak before losing to Jacare Souza by first-round KO in his last appearance. Adesanya is a high-level kickboxer who is 3-0 in the Octagon, defeating Brad Tavares in his last bout. Adesanya was picked by six of 10 writers.
