| Yadong vs. Simon |
Borralho vs. Oleksiejczuk |
Brundage vs. Vieira |
Erosa vs. Padilla |
Cortes-Acosta vs. Rogerio |
Quinlan vs. Waters |
|
|
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 63-41 |
 Simon (59%) |
 Borralho (79%) |
 Vieira (75%) |
 Erosa (70%) |
 Cortes-Acosta (60%) |
 Quinlan (86%) |
|
Matt Erickson @MattE 67-37 |
 Yadong |
Borralho |
Vieira |
 Padilla |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Simon Samano @SJSamano 67-37 |
Simon |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Padilla |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 66-38 |
Simon |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Erosa |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Nolan King @mma_kings 66-38 |
Yadong |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Padilla |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 64-40 |
Simon |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Padilla |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 63-41  |
Simon |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Erosa |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 60-44 |
Simon |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Padilla |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway -60-44 |
Simon |
Borralho |
 Brundage |
Padilla |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Brian Garcia @thegoze 58-46 |
Simon |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Erosa |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 58-46 |
Simon |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Padilla |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
|
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 57-47 |
Yadong |
Borralho |
Vieira |
Erosa |
Cortes-Acosta |
Quinlan |
The UFC stays in Las Vegas this week with a key bantamweight matchup atop the card.
UFC Fight Night 223 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, Ricky Simon (20-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) takes on Song Yadong (19-7-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) in a 125-pound matchup originally set for a co-main event this past Saturday. Simon is a slight -120 favorite at the betting window. The comeback on Yadong is +100, making these some of the stickiest main event odds in the UFC this year. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Simon with a big eight ahead of Yadong, who has just three head nods.
In the co-feature, Caio Borralho (13-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is the biggest favorite on the card at nearly 4-1 in his middleweight bout against Michal Oleksiejczuk (18-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC). He’s also one of our three unanimous picks.
Also on the main card, Cody Brundage (8-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) takes on Rodolfo Vieira (8-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in a middleweight bout. Vieira is about a -250 favorite and is a near-unanimous pick at 10-1.
Julian Erosa (28-10 MMA, 6-6 UFC) is a slight favorite with the oddsmakers in his featherweight bout against Fernando Padilla (14-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC). But it’s Padilla who has a 7-4 picks lead.
Although unbeaten heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is a slight underdog against Marcos Rogerio (20-8-1 MMA, 9-6 UFC), he’s the second of our three unanimous picks.
And to open the main card, Josh Quinlan (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is our third unanimous pick in his welterweight bout against short-notice opponent Trey Waters (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Quinlan nearly is a 2-1 favorite in the fight.
In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Simon (59 percent), Borralho (79 percent), Vieira (75 percent), Erosa (70 percent), Cortes-Acosta (60 percent) and Quinlan (86 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 223.
