This week’s Writer vs. Fighter features Cageside Press’ own and UFC ranking panel member, Rodney James Edgar, and Bellator’s Christian Edwards making their picks for UFC Vegas 37.
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 37. 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 265
Bobby Moffett def. Dave Tramonte (5-3) – UFC Vegas 34
Austin Arnett def. Alex Behunin (4-2) – UFC Vegas 35
Mike Lynch def. Mo Miller (6-1) – UFC Vegas 36
A win for the writers expands their lead to 13-11. The fighters inched within a single point, but then fell when attempting to tie it again. They’ll look to get that one back this week.
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, member of the UFC ranking panel, Rodney James Edgar looks to help out the writers. Meanwhile, before he steps into the cage himself on Saturday, Christian Edwards hits us with his knowledge. Let’s see what they picked.
A lot of the main slate runs similar for these two. They both like Devin Clark in the co-main event to beat Ion Cutelaba. They both also like Rocky Pennington to beat Pannie Kianzad in our featured contest of the card. They do disagree on the main event, which pits Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann. Edwards has the up and comer, Spann, while Edgar likes the veteran, Smith.
For underdogs, Edgar will go with Gustavo Lopez, who is just a slight dog to Heili Alateng. Meanwhile, Edwards will go with a much bigger dog in Antonio Arroyo, who faces Joaquin Buckley. For locks, Edgar has Montel Jackson over JP Buys, and Edwards has Sarah Alpar over newcomer Erin Blanchfield.
May the best writer/fighter win! Check back here to see the results following the conclusion of UFC Vegas 37.
