The UFC is back for its first event in 2021 – and the first of three cards in eight days on Fight Island.
UFC on ABC 1 takes place on Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main map airs on ABC and ESPN + after prelims on ESPN +.
(Click here to open a pdf of the staff selection grid in a separate window.)
In the main tournament, former featherweight champion Max Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) will take on Calvin Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC). Holloway is a little favorite at BetMGM at -165, but for the first headliner of the year, our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio presenters split halfway through 7-7.
In the co-feature, longtime UFC welterweights Matt Brown (22-17 MMA, 15-11 UFC) and former interim champion Carlos Condit (31-13 MMA, 8-9 UFC) meet. Condit is the little favorite, but he’s a big 11-3 ahead of our pickers.
Also on the main card, Li Jingliang (17-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is a heavy welterweight underdog against Santiago Ponzinibbio (27-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), and Ponzinibbio has a big 12-2 lead in the picks .
Joaquin Buckley (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is our employees’ only unanimous choice in his middleweight fight against Alessio Di Chirico (12-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC). He is almost a 3-1 favorite in the sportsbooks and has a 14-0 shutout of our employees.
And to open the main map, Punahele Soriano (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is a light middleweight underdog against Dusko Todorovic (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC). Both are unbeaten, but it’s Soriano with a 9-5 lead.
In the MMA Junkie reader’s consensus choices, Holloway (68 percent), Condit (63 percent), Ponzinibbio (82 percent), Buckley (85 percent), and Todorovic (57 percent) are the choices.
Check out all of the above choices.