UFC 239 is stacked with potentially the greatest male and female fighters of all time defending their titles, and Cageside Press has their picks set.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Payne (108-44) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Joe McDonagh (99-45) | | |  | | |
| Heath Harshman (102-50) | |  | | | |
| Keith Shillan (60-33) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (97-55) | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (61-35) | | | |  | |
| Jay Anderson (95-57) | | | | | |
| Ryan Fortune (58-35) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (94-58) | | | | | |
| Paarth Pande (93-59) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (93-59) |  | | | | |
| Eddie Law (71-53) | | | | |  |
| Marcus Rebelo (9-7) | | | | | |
UFC 239 is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between dominant champion Jon Jones and former middleweight powerhouse Thiago Santos. Jones, for all intents and purposes, is undefeated through 26 fights and has nine official defenses of his title. Santos is a knockout machine with 11 of his 13 Octagon victories coming via stoppage, with the last three taking place at light heavyweight. All but one writer believe Jones’ reign continues.
The co-main event features Amanda Nunes taking on former champion Holly Holm. Nunes has been unstoppable since a loss in 2014, rattling off eight-straight victories, defending the bantamweight belt three times and knocking out Cris Cyborg to win the featherweight title as well. It’s been a bumpy road to this fight for Holm, who is 2-4 since her unbelievable knockout against Ronda Rousey in 2015. She does have two wins in her last three fights, with the lone loss being a featherweight title bout against Cyborg. All but two writers picked the double champ.
In what is being dubbed as “The People’s Main Event,” Ben Askren takes on Jorge Masvidal in a potential number-one contender bout. Askren recently made his UFC debut, submitting Robbie Lawler in the first round after taking some punishment. Masvidal snapped a two-fight losing streak in a huge way with a knockout victory over Darren Till in his last appearance. Nine of 13 writers sided with Askren.
Luke Rockhold is set to make his light heavyweight debut at UFC 239 against Jan Blachowicz. Rockhold has fought once a year since 2016, and the former champion is looking to carve a new path to the title after a knockout loss to Yoel Romero in his last fight. Blachowicz was recently on a four-fight win streak before falling to top contender Thiago Santos in his last fight. 10 of 13 writers picked Rockhold.
Opening up the main card will be Diego Sanchez and Michael Chiesa. Chiesa recently made his welterweight debut in a huge way with a submission victory over Carlos Condit. On the other side, Sanchez has jolted some life into his career with two straight wins, including a great performance against Mickey Gall last time out. All but three writers picked Chiesa.
