It’s another event inside the UFC Apex Center in Las Vegas as UFC on ESPN 12 brings fans an excellent main event between Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker. Cageside Press has its picks set.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fortune (58-22) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Keith Shillan (56-24) | | | | | |
| Joe McDonagh (51-29) | | |  |  | |
| Jay Anderson (47-33) | | | | | |
| Ryan Jarrell (14-10) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (45-35) | | | | | |
| Dylan Bowker (37-29) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (44-36) |  | | | | |
| Justin Gibbons (24-20) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (40-35) | | | | | |
It’s a dream matchup in the lightweight division as Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker battle it out in the main event of UFC on ESPN 12. Poirier is looking to bounce back from a loss in a title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov that snapped a five-fight win streak. Hooker is 7-1 since moving up to lightweight and comes into this fight on a three-fight win streak. Poirier was unanimously picked.
The co-main event features Mike Perry taking on Mickey Gall. Perry has struggled recently with just two wins in his last seven contests. Gall has not fought in nearly a year, with his last appearance being a win against Salim Touahri last August. Perry was picked by seven of 10 writers.
A rough-looking Gian Villante moves up to heavyweight to take on “The Crochet Boss” Maurice Greene. Villante hasn’t fought in over a year and is 2-4 in his last six fights. Greene started his UFC run hot with three straight wins, but has since lost twice. Greene was slightly favored with six picks to four.
A pair of up-and-comers square off as Brendan Allen battles Kyle Daukaus. Daukaus is undefeated and will be making his UFC debut in the midst of the pandemic with eight of his nine career wins coming by submission. Allen is off to a nice start with wins over Kevin Holland and Tom Breese in the Octagon. Allen was unanimously picked.
Opening up the UFC on ESPN 12 main card will be Sean Woodson and the return of Julian Erosa. Woodson is 7-0 and is coming off a solid promotional debut against Kyle Bochniak. Erosa is back in the UFC for the third time after going 0-3 in his second stint. Overall, he is 1-4 in the Octagon across two stays.
