A loaded pay-per-view card kicks off July as UFC 276 is headlined by a pair of title fights with several big names on the main card. Cageside Press has its picks set.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Prawdzik (77-40) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (71-39) | |  |  |  | |
| Jay Anderson (70-47) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (62-44) | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (61-52) |  | | | | |
| Jamie Theodosi (9-2) | | | | ` | |
UFC 276 is headlined by a great middleweight title fight between champion Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier. Adesanya returned to middleweight after his attempt to win a light heavyweight belt came up short. Since then, he’s defeated both Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker. Cannonier, a former heavyweight, defeated both Kelvin Gastelum and Derek Brunson to earn a shot at the belt. Adesanya was unanimously picked.
The co-main event is the third fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway for the featherweight title. Volkanovski won the first two fights between the featherweight greats and has since defeated Chan Sung Jung and Brian Ortega. Holloway re-entered the title picture with wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. Cageside Press was split at three picks apiece.
Sean Strickland attempts to keep climbing the middleweight ladder when he takes on kickboxing great Alex Pereira. Strickland has won six straight fights to enter the top five of the division. Pereira, who defeated Israel Adesanya in a kickboxing match, is 2-0 in the Octagon with knockout and is on a fast track to a title fight if he is able to get by Strickland. Cageside Press is split at three picks apiece.
Former champion Robbie Lawler faces brawler Bryan Barberena on the main card. Lawler was able to stop a four-fight losing streak with a win over the ghost of Nick Diaz last time out. Barberena is on a two-fight win streak, defeating Matt Brown last time out. Barberena was picked by four of six writers.
Opening the main card of UFC 276 is Sean O’Malley facing a tough test in Pedro Munhoz. Munhoz has struggled recently, losing four of his last five against the upper-echelon of the bantamweight division. O’Malley has knocked out all three of his opponents since the lone loss of his career. All but one writer picked O’Malley.
