A late shake-up led to a strawweight main event for UFC Vegas 26 and Cageside Press has its picks set.
| Writer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fortune (52-27) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Alex Behunin (39-21) | |  | | | |
| Justin Gibbons (51-28) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (48-31) | | | |  |  |
| Mike McClory (37-25) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (33-23) | | |  | | |
| Doug Murray (43-31) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (42-37) | | | | | |
| Dylan Bowker (37-33) | | | | | |
| Joe McDonagh (37-34) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (36-39) | | | | | |
The main event of UFC Vegas 26 pits Marina Rodriguez against Michelle Waterson. Rodriguez is coming off a stunning knockout against Amanda Ribas, while Waterson recently defeated Angela Hill in a main event split decision. Waterson was slightly favored, getting picked by six of 11 writers.
Veterans Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez were scheduled to square-off in the co-main event, but Sanchez’s fallout with the UFC led to him being removed from the fight and replaced by Alex Morono. Cerrone is winless in his last five fights, while Morono has lost two of his last three. All but one writer picked Cerrone.
Exciting welterweights Neil Magny and Geoff Neal will battle on the main card. Neal was on an impressive seven-fight win streak highlighted by knockouts of Mike Perry and Niko Price before he ran into Stephen Thompson in a December main event. Magny recently had a three-fight win streak snapped by Michael Chiesa. All but two writers picked Geoff Neal.
Heavyweights Maurice Greene and Marcos Rogerio de Lima will look to right the ship. Greene has lost three of his last four since his hot start to his UFC career, getting knockout out by Greg Hardy last time out. De Lima has alternated wins and losses in his past nine fights, getting submitted by powerful heavyweight Alexander Romanov last time out. Greene was slightly favored, receiving six of 11 picks.
Gregor Gillespie will be making his long-awaited return against Carlos Diego Ferreira at UFC Vegas 26. Gillespie was 13-0 with six Octagon victories before falling to Kevin Lee in 2019, and has not fought since. Ferreira also had a long win streak snapped in his last fight, with Beneil Dariush stopping the Brazilian’s six-fight run. Gillespie was unanimously picked.
