A trilogy will be settled as our MMASucka staff picks are ready to go.
UFC 286 is set for action later today, March 18th from the O2 Arena in London, England. This marks the promotional return to the United Kingdom’s capital for the first time since UFC Fight Night 208 in June of 2022 as well as the first pay-per-view visit since UFC 120 in October of 2010. Early preliminaries kick off at 12:30pm ET (9:30am PT) on UFC Fight Pass with regular prelims at 3:00pm ET (12:00pm PT) on ESPN News. The pay-per-view portion will begin at 5:00pm ET (2:00pm PT) available for purchase through ESPN+.
Live results from the entire fifteen-scheduled fight card of UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3 will be available here at MMASucka.
The Fights
A highly-anticipated trilogy awaits in UFC 286’s featured main event for the UFC welterweight championship between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.
The two first faced off in December of 2015 with Usman taking the three-round unanimous decision. With two UFC fights under his belt, Usman added to his resume with 13 additional wins including his welterweight title victory in early 2019 over Tyron Woodley and five defenses of the championship. Meanwhile, Edwards would go on his own respected win streak of nine straight victories before getting scheduled to rematch Usman for the title in August of last year. After a majority of the fight in Usman’s control and with less than 70 seconds remaining where it appeared a clear winner was ahead, Edwards would find a head-kick knockout finish and claim the 170-pound strap.
In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev will meet in the lightweight division. Former WSOF lightweight champion and interim UFC champion Gaethje looks to rebound after falling short of the title in his May of 2022 headliner with Charles Oliveira by first-round submission. Muay Thai specialist Fiziev targets his seventh straight win with the promotion since losing his only professional fight in April of 2019 to Magomed Mustafaev.
Three additional fights are set for the night’s main card as Iceland’s Gunnar Nelson, the undefeated Casey O’Neill, and former middleweight title challenger Marvin Vettori battle against their respected opponents of the always-entertaining Bryan Barberena, former Invicta FC flyweight champion Jennifer Maia, and dangerous finisher Roman Dolidze.
Check out our staff picks for the main card of UFC 286 further below.
Hear what @Leon_EdwardsMMA and @Usman84kg had to say during their final faceoff 👀 #UFC286 pic.twitter.com/HeFnnYHF6p
— UFC (@ufc) March 17, 2023
2023 Staff Picks
MMASucka staff picks are composed of five promotions: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). UFC and Bellator events feature picks from only main cards. PFL will feature select fights from the main and preliminary card while DWCS sees all fights counted from the event. ONE Championship returns to picks for the first time since 2020 and will feature only mixed martial arts (MMA) fights selected from cards with a minimum three matchups.
The WINNER of staff picks at the end of 2023, who picked the most victorious fighters, will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. Staff picks in 2022 was won by Wesley Riddle with a record of 264-135.
Who are the MMASucka staff picking to win at UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3?
MMASucka’s 2022 Championship Belt (courtesy of ProAmBelts).
Staff Records after UFC Fight Night 221:
1. Ben Jamieson: 39-17
2. Nate Freeman: 38-18
3. Tim Wheaton: 36-20
4T. Jeremy Brand: 35-21
4T. Jack Goodwillie: 35-21
6T. Wesley Riddle: 34-22
6T. Michael DeSantis: 34-22
6T. Roemello Reyes: 34-19
9. Frazer Krohn: 33-23
10. Julio Monteros Jr.: 30-18
11. Brian Knight: 27-20
12. Andrew Benjamin: 23-28
13. Brandon Joint: 12-9
14. Andrew Harbaugh: 10-7
15. Joshua Yule: 7-6
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
Marvin Vettori (18-6-1), -250
vs.
Roman Dolidze (12-1), +210
Middleweight Division
– 185 LBS. ~ 83.9 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Vettori via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Vettori via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Vettori via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Vettori via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Vettori via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Vettori via Split Decision
Tim Wheaton: Vettori via Round 2 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Vettori via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Dolidze via Unanimous Decision
Roemello Reyes: Vettori via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Vettori via Round 2 TKO
Jonathan Andrade: Dolidze via Split Decision
Staff picking Vettori: 10
Staff picking Dolidze: 2
Jennifer Maia (20-9-1), +150
vs.
Casey O’Neill (9-0), -175
Women’s Flyweight Division
– 125 LBS. ~ 56.7 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: O’Neill via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: O’Neill via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: O’Neill via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: O’Neill via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: O’Neill via Split Decision
Nate Freeman: O’Neill via Unanimous Decision
Tim Wheaton: O’Neill via Round 3 SUB
Julio Monteros Jr.: O’Neill via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: O’Neill via Split Decision
Roemello Reyes: O’Neill via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: O’Neill via Unanimous Decision
Jonathan Andrade: O’Neill via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Maia: 0
Staff picking O’Neill: 12
Gunnar Nelson (18-5-1), -360
vs.
Bryan Barberena (18-9), +295
Welterweight Division
– 170 LBS. ~ 77.1 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Nelson via Round 2 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Nelson via Round 2 SUB
Michael DeSantis: Nelson via Round 2 SUB
Andrew Benjamin: Nelson via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Nelson via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Nelson via Round 2 SUB
Tim Wheaton: Barberena via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Nelson via Majority Decision
Brian Knight: Nelson via Unanimous Decision
Roemello Reyes: Nelson via Round 3 SUB
Ben Jamieson: Nelson via Round 2 SUB
Jonathan Andrade: Nelson via Round 3 SUB
Staff picking Nelson: 11
Staff picking Barberena: 1
Justin Gaethje (24-4), +195
vs.
Rafael Fiziev (12-1), -230
Lightweight Division
– Co-Main Event –
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Gaethje via Round 1 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Fiziev via Round 3 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Fiziev via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Gaethje via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Gaethje via Round 3 TKO
Nate Freeman: Fiziev via Round 2 TKO
Tim Wheaton: Fiziev via Round 3 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Fiziev via Round 3 TKO
Brian Knight: Gaethje via Unanimous Decision
Roemello Reyes: Fiziev via Round 1 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Fiziev via Round 1 TKO
Jonathan Andrade: Gaethje via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking Gaethje: 5
Staff picking Fiziev: 7
Leon Edwards (20-3), +200
vs.
Kamaru Usman (20-2), -240
Welterweight Divisional Championship
– Main Event –
– 170 LBS. ~ 77.1 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Usman via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Usman via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Usman via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Edwards via Split Decision
Frazer Krohn: Edwards via Split Decision
Nate Freeman: Usman via Unanimous Decision
Tim Wheaton: Edwards via Round 2 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Usman via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Usman via Round 3 TKO
Roemello Reyes: Usman via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Usman via Unanimous Decision
Jonathan Andrade: Usman via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Edwards: 3
Staff picking Usman: 9
