This week’s Writer vs. Fighter features Cageside Press’ resident news breaker, and Sikjitsu featherweight, Austin Arnett, making their picks for UFC Vegas 35.
It’s time for another battle for pick supremacy. We pit those who write about face punch with those who do the punching to see who knows more about what will go down at UFC Vegas 35. Here’s how each week has gone so far:
Joe McDonagh def. Randy Costa (3-2) – Fight Island 7
Doug Murray def. Bryan Barberena (2-1) – Fight Island 8
Shawn Bitter DRAW Mike Rodriguez (1-1) – UFC 257
Dalton Rosta def. Jay Anderson (7-2) – UFC Vegas 18
Austin Arnett def. Heath Harshman (2-1) – UFC 258
Sam Hughes def. Gumby Vreeland (3-0) – UFC Vegas 19
Mike McClory def. Orion Cosce (5-2) – UFC Vegas 20
Josh Evanoff def. Cortney Casey (2-1) – UFC 259
Aiemann Zahabi def. Alex Behunin (5-0) – UFC Vegas 21
Sergio Pineiro def. Kai Kamaka III (7-0) – UFC Vegas 22
Gabriel Gonzalez def. Vince Morales (7-4) – UFC 260
Jordan Leavitt def. Rodney James Edgar (4-2) – UFC Vegas 23
Ryan Fortune def. Rani Yahya (7-3) – UFC Vegas 24
Dakota Bush def. Dylan Bowker (6-5) – UFC 261
Bryson Hester def. Arlene Blencowe (3-0) – UFC Vegas 25
Nate Maness def. Justin Gibbons (4-3) – UFC Vegas 26
Gumby Vreeland def. Kyle Nelson (4-2) – UFC 262
Mike Lynch DRAW Christian Edwards (4-4) – UFC Vegas 27
Doug Murray DRAW Ramiz Brahimaj (6-6) – UFC Vegas 28
Joe McDonagh def. Domingo Pilarte (8-6) – UFC 263
Heath Harshman DRAW Steven Peterson (4-4) – UFC Vegas 29
Sergio Pinheiro def. Terrance McKinney (5-4) – UFC Vegas 30
Dave Tramonte def. Ike Villanueva (5-4) – UFC 264
Bryan Barberena def. Gabriel Gonzalez (8-5) – UFC Vegas 31
Carlos Mota def. Justin Gibbons (4-1) – UFC Vegas 32
Roque Martinez def. Jason Rees (5-1) – UFC Vegas 33
Alex Behunin def. Brok Weaver (8-2) – UFC Vegas 34
Bobby Moffett def. Dave Tramonte (5-3) – UFC Vegas 35
The win for Moffett brings the score to 12-10 in favor of the writers. Shout out to the Wolfman who recently picked up a PFL victory over Jason Knight as well.
Here’s how it works: both writer and fighter must pick the winner of the main event, co-main event, and featured main card bout. A correct pick will earn one point. Both must then pick a “lock” — the fighter they are most sure will win their fight — from the entire card. That’s two points. The “dog” comes next, and a correct underdog pick earns three points.
It’s that simple. Five picks: Main, co-main, and featured fight winners, lock, and underdog. To the winner go the spoils. Not actual spoils, but bragging rights anyway.
On this week’s edition, Cageside Press’s resident news breaker, Alex Behunin makes a quick turnaround to try to get the writers another ‘W’. He’ll have to get through featherweight Austin Arnett, who previously beat up Heath Harshman back in February. Let’s see some picks.
There are quite a few spots where these two agree with their picks. Both men think the most logical lock on the card is Makhmud Muradov, who tangles with Gerald Meerschaert at UFC Vegas 35. They also both like Edson Barboza in the main event and Bryan Battle in the middleweight final of TUF.
The difference will then be made in the bantamweight finals of TUF and the underdog of the week. Behunin likes Ricky Turcios to take home the show title, while Arnett likes youngster, Brady Hiestand. Behunin is also going with a veteran in his dog pick with Smilin’ Sam Alvey. Arnett, meanwhile, is going with Daniel Gracie product, Pat Sabatini.
May the best writer/fighter win! Check back here to see the results following the conclusion of UFC Vegas 35.
