A sneakily-stacked fight card is in store this weekend for MMASucka staff picks.
UFC Vegas 73, also titled as UFC Fight Night 223, is set for action later today, May 20th from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. All fights will be available to watch for ESPN+ subscribers with prelims at 4:00pm ET (1:00pm PT) followed by the main card at 7:00pm ET (4:00pm PT). The Ultimate Fighting Championship will take a week break after tonight’s card and return with UFC on ESPN 46 (also named UFC Vegas 73) on June 3rd.
Stay tuned to MMASucka for live results from UFC Vegas 73: Dern vs. Hill.
The Fights
Headlining the UFC Vegas 73 event sees an important women’s strawweight matchup between Mackenzie Dern and Angela Hill across five possible five-minute rounds. The two were moved from the main card of last weekend’s event, UFC on ABC 4, to tonight’s headliner after the originally scheduled five-round fight between women’s bantamweights Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana was shuffled as Aldana will fight divisional champion Amanda Nunes for the title. Dern will hope to rebound after dropping a majority decision in her main event battle with Yan Xiaonan last October as Hill gets her second promotional headlining appearance in hopes of her three consecutive win after defeating Lupita Godinez and Emily Ducote by unanimous decision last year.
In the co-main event, Edmen Shahbazyan and Anthony Hernandez will meet in the middleweight division. Former Contender Series contract winner Shahbazyan, after three consecutive losses, came ended 2022 in impressive fashion with his second-round knockout over Dalcha Lungiambula. Former LFA Middleweight Champion Hernandez looks to secure his fourth-straight octagon victory since February of 2021.
Three additional fights make up the main card which can be found in our ‘picks’ section. Also, due to a late event shuffling, the preliminary headliner of Maheshate and Viacheslav Borschev will be included in our picks. See those for the main card of UFC Vegas 73 further below.
Strawweights take center stage!!@MackenzieDern vs @AngieOverkill headlining tomorrow at #UFCVegas73!
[ 4pmET / 1pmPT start | Full card LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/vcCTnonFsJ
— UFC (@ufc) May 19, 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.
Check out our staff picks below for UFC Vegas 73: Dern vs. Hill.
Staff Records after UFC on ABC 4:
1. Ben Jamieson: 99-55
2T. Michael DeSantis: 98-56
2T. Tim Wheaton: 98-56
4. Frazer Krohn: 97-57
5T. Jeremy Brand: 95-59
5T. Nate Freeman: 95-59
7. Wesley Riddle: 92-62
8. Andrew Benjamin: 79-70
9. Julio Monteros Jr.: 78-60
10. Brian Knight: 75-45
11. Jack Goodwillie: 71-46
12. Roemello Reyes: 62-34
13. Jonathan Andrade: 29-21
14. Brandon Joint: 12-9
15. Andrew Harbaugh: 10-7
16. Joshua Yule: 7-6
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
Maheshate (9-2), +140
vs.
Viacheslav Borshchev (6-3), -165
Lightweight Division
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Borshchev via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Borshchev via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Borshchev via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Borshchev via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Borshchev via Round 2 TKO
Tim Wheaton: Borshchev via Round 1 SUB
Julio Monteros Jr.: Borshchev via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Borshchev via Unanimous Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Maheshate via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Borshchev via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Maheshate: 1
Staff picking Borschev: 9
Diego Ferreira (17-5), -150
vs.
Michael Johnson (22-18), +130
Lightweight Division
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Ferreira via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Ferreira via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Ferreira via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Ferreira via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Ferreira via Unanimous Decision
Tim Wheaton: Ferreira via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Johnson via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Ferreira via Unanimous Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Ferreira via Round 1 SUB
Ben Jamieson: Ferreira via Round 2 SUB
Staff picking Ferreira: 9
Staff picking Johnson: 1
Andre Fialho (16-6, 1 NC), +180
vs.
Joaquin Buckley (15-6), -210
Welterweight Division
– 170 LBS. ~ 77.1 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Buckley via Round 3 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Fialho via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Buckley via Round 2 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Fialho via Round 1 TKO
Nate Freeman: Fialho via Round 3 TKO
Tim Wheaton: Fialho via Round 3 SUB
Julio Monteros Jr.: Buckley via Round 1 TKO
Brian Knight: Buckley via Round 1 TKO
Jack Goodwillie: Fialho via Round 1 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Buckley via Round 3 TKO
Staff picking Fialho: 5
Staff picking Buckley: 5
Emily Ducote (12-7), +120
vs.
Loopy Godinez (9-3), -140
Catchweight Fight
– 120 LBS. ~ 54.4 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Godinez via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Godinez via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Godinez via Split Decision
Frazer Krohn: Godinez via Round 3 SUB
Nate Freeman: Godinez via Split Decision
Tim Wheaton: Godinez via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Godinez via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Godinez via Unanimous Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Ducote via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Godinez via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Ducote: 1
Staff picking Godinez: 9
Edmen Shahbazyan (12-3), +160
vs.
Anthony Hernandez (10-2, 1 NC), -190
Middleweight Division
– Co-Main Event –
– 185 LBS. ~ 83.9 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Hernandez via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Hernandez via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Hernandez via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Shahbazyan via Round 2 TKO
Nate Freeman: Hernandez via Unanimous Decision
Tim Wheaton: Shahbazyan via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Hernandez via Round 2 SUB
Brian Knight: Shahbazyan via Round 1 TKO
Jack Goodwillie: Shahbazyan via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Hernandez via Round 2 SUB
Staff picking Shahbazyan: 4
Staff picking Hernandez: 6
Mackenzie Dern (12-3), -155
vs.
Angela Hill (15-12), +135
Women’s Strawweight Division
– Main Event –
– 115 LBS. ~ 52.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Dern via Round 2 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Dern via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Dern via Round 2 SUB
Frazer Krohn: Dern via Round 2 SUB
Nate Freeman: Dern via Split Decision
Tim Wheaton: Dern via Split Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Dern via Split Decision
Brian Knight: Dern via Split Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Dern via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Dern via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Dern: 10
Staff picking Hill: 0
