UFC 205 Staff Predictions: Main Card and FS1 Prelims
UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
UFC 205 is finally here, and Cage Pages is predicting more fights than ever to commemorate the historic New York debut.
With four champions, three title fights, three former champions, and plenty of top-10 talent, there has never been a card like UFC 205. Even with the late cancellations of Tim Kennedy vs. Rashad Evans, and Donald Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum, this is still a can’t miss card.
UFC Mexico was a solid card for the Cage Pages staff, with 13 of 19 writers hitting at least 50-percent of the six fight main card correctly. Most notably Mitch Williams who correctly picked all six fights. Three new writers will also be giving their first predictions this week.
First up is the main card, but make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom for our preliminary picks.
Check out our predictions in the chart below, which is ordered by 2016 winning percentage
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| Cage Pages UFC 205 Predictions | |||||
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| Staff Writers | Tate vs. Rocky | Yoel vs. Chris | JJ vs. KK | Tyron vs. Stephen | Eddie vs. Conor |
| Nick Dwyer (5-1) |
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| Harry Davies (5-1) |
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| Farzin V. (5-1) |
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Nick S. (4-2) |
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| P. Pande (4-2) |
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| G. Youngs (4-2) |
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| Jake Krier (102-56) |
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| Mitch W. (81-48) |
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| Jack K. (80-49) |
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A. Mazziotti (93-59) |
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G. Gonzalez (22-14) |
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Ryan Wagner (31-20) |
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Sean Bio (98-65) |
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Jason Payne (19-13) |
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Dan Doherty (94-69) |
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Dalton G. (34-26) |
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Eddie Law (3-3) |
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Ryan Thomas (2-4) |
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Tyler Matlock (0-0) |
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Dan Forkapa (0-0) |
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Alex Solano (0-0) |
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The most heavily favored main card fighter by Cage Pages is also the oddsmakers’ heaviest favorite: Joanna Jedrzejczyk with 18 votes to Karolina Kowalkiewicz’s three. Miesha Tate and Stephen Wonderboy Thompson are slam dunk picks according to the staff, with only four going to each of their opponenents. The main event is relatively close, with 13 writers siding with the featherweight champion, and eight siding with the lightweight king. The closest fight on the card is the middleweight toss-up between Chris Weidman and Yoel Romero. Weidman edged Romero by just one vote.
Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports
FOX Sports 1 Prelims
The FOX Sports 1 Prelims took a hit when Rashad Evans failed to pass a physical, but great fights still remain on the card. Frankie Edgar looks to rebound from his tough loss against Jose Aldo, and Khabib Nurmagomedov receives his first top-10 test in years.
Related Story: UFC 205: Belal Muhammad's Perspective
| Cage Pages UFC 205 Predictions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff Writers | Luque vs. Belal | Natal vs. Boetsch | Johnson vs. Khabib | Edgar vs. Stephens |
| Nick Dwyer (5-1) |
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| Harry Davies (5-1) |
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| Farzin V. (5-1) |
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Nick S. (4-2) |
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| P. Pande (4-2) |
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G. Youngs (4-2) |
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| Jake Krier (102-56) |
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| Mitch W. (81-48) |
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| Jack K. (80-49) |
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| A. Mazziotti (93-59) |
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| G. Gonzalez (22-14) |
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| Ryan Wagner (31-20) |
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| Sean Bio (98-65) |
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Jason Payne (19-13) |
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| Dan Doherty (94-69) |
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| Dalton G. (34-26) |
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| Eddie Law (3-3) |
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| Ryan Thomas (2-4) |
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| Tyler Matlock (0-0) |
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Dan Forkapa (0-0) |
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Alex Solano (0-0) |
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Next: A Retrospective Look at the Rise of Mainstream MMA
Although he is not the heaviest favorite odds-wise, no one was bold enough to pick against Frankie Edgar. The return of Khabib against a top-10 opponent has many excited, but three of our writers believe he will succumb to the strikes of Michael Johnson. Fan-favorite Belal Muhammad received 15 of the 21 votes, and New York resident Rafael Natal received 14 votes.
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