After an action-packed trip to Australia, the UFC returned to Las Vegas for Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 69 — with a women’s flyweight fight anchoring the card.
UFC Vegas 69 is, in all honesty, a thin card on paper. When Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandagen was shifted to UFC San Antonio in March, the end result was Erin Blanchfield vs. Taila Santos being bumped up to the main event. Then Santos dropped out, replaced by former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade stepping in on short notice.
That switch arguably helped the card’s visibility by adding a former champ, and one willing to step up on short notice less than a month out from her last fight. The flyweight bout had the possibility of landing Andrade a title shot at strawweight, as strange as that sounds, while a win for Blanchfield could do her the same at 125lbs, depending on how the rest of the division unfolds over the next several months.
Our picks are in! Here’s who we see coming out ahead at UFC Vegas 69.
| Writer | Miller vs. Hernandez | Knight vs. Prachnio | Parisian vs. Pogues | Pauga vs. Wright | Andrade vs. Blanchfield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Law (13-5) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Mike McClory (10-4) | |  | | | |
| Jamie Theodosi (12-6) |  | | |  | |
| Val Dewar (12-6) | | | | | |
| Chris Prawdzik (11-7) | | | | |  |
| Alex Behunin (11-7) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (9-9) | | | | | |
| Dylan Rush (8-10) | | |  | | |
To be blunt, our staff was torn with this card. Not a single unanimous selection among the five main card fights, though a couple of fighters were heavy favorites. Among them, Jessica Andrade is widely expected (by our writers, anyway) to get the better of Erin Blanchfield despite stepping in on a week’s notice, and giving up some size to the flyweight prospect. Only one writer selected Blanchfield to come out on top. Likewise, only a single staff member selected Jordan Wright to defeat TUF 30 alum Zac Pauga, and only one sees Josh Parisian getting the better of Jamal Pogues.
The lightweight scrap between Jim Miller and Alexander Hernandez was split right down the middle, however, while William Knight had just a slight edge over Marcin Prachnio in their light heavyweight affair.
