A few main event changes later and UFC Fort Lauderdale is finally here along with Cageside Press’ picks for the ESPN+ main card.
| Staff Writers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Payne (66-21) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Drake Riggs (63-24) | | |  | | | |
| Steve King (58-23) | | | | | | |
| Heath Harshman (62-25) | |  | | | | |
| Paarth Pande (61-26) | | | | | | |
| Joe McDonagh (59-28) | | | |  |  |  |
| Bryson Hester (41-20) | | | | | | |
| Mike Straus (56-31) |  | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (56-31) | | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (55-32) | | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (55-32) | | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (55-32) | | | | | | |
| Shawn Bitter (54-33) | | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (34-21) | | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (50-31) | | | | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (47-34) | | | | | | |
| Alex Scaffidi (43-32) | | | | | | |
| Adam LeBarr (22-18) | | | | | | |
| Ryan Fortune (16-12) | | | | | | |
| Keith Shillan (15-13) | | | | | | |
| Davidson Baker (5-5) | | | | | | |
The main event of UFC Fort Lauderdale is a short notice bout between Jack Hermansson and Jacare Souza. Hermansson is on a three-fight stoppage streak while Souza has knocked out two of his last three opponents. 16 of 20 writers picked the veteran Jacare.
The co-main event pits former NFL All-Pro Greg Hardy against Dmitry Smoliakov. Hardy is coming off a DQ in his UFC debut which marked the first loss of his career. Smoliakov has rejoined the promotion after going 0-2 in his first stint. The Russian was favored slightly by a 12-8 spread.
Alex Oliveira and Mike Perry will throw down on the main card. Oliveira recently had a two-fight stoppage streak snapped and Perry has lost in three of his last four appearances. All but one writer went with the Brazilian Cowboy.
Glover Teixeira faces Ion Cutelaba in a rescheduled bout from February. Teixeira still fought that month and won by first-round come-from-behind submission. Cutelaba has won three of his last four with the latest two coming by knockout. Teixeira received 12 of 20 picks.
John Lineker will welcome Cory Sandhagen to the top of the bantamweight division. Lineker has won eight of his last nine with the only loss coming to former champion TJ Dillashaw. Sandhagen has taken the UFC by storm with three blistering stoppages in his first three appearances. 15 of 20 writers picked Lineker.
Roosevelt Roberts will welcome Thomas Gifford to the Octagon. Roosevelt is 7-0 with seven stoppages including a brutal standing guillotine in his promotional debut. Gifford will make his debut on a five-fight win streak with three submissions and one knockout. All but one writer selected Roberts.
