MMASucka staff picks are in for UFC 237 taking place this evening, May 11, from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main card will begin live on pay-per-view at 10:00pm ET (7:00pm PT). Picks for tonight’s Bellator 221 card can be found here. And to recap our ONE Championship: Warrior of Light picks from Friday morning’s card in Bangkok, click here.
THE FIGHTS
In the main event, Rose Namajunas looks to defend her strawweight belt for the second time in against Brazil’s Jessica Andrade. Namajunas claimed the title in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history over Joanna Jedrzejczyk back in November of 2017, stopping her with strikes in the very first round. The two would rematch in April of last year to an incredible five-round decision, seeing Namajunas defeat Jedrzejczyk once more. Her opponent tonight, Andrade, took her shot at the strawweight belt against Jedrzejczyk in May of 2017. After coming up short, she successfully rebounded with back-to-back unanimous decision victories over Claudia Gadelha and Tecia Torres. Last September, she knocked out former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz with a single shot to the dome.
Middleweights Jared Cannonier and Anderson Silva are slated in the co-main event slot. Cannonier is coming off a second-round knockout over former two-division WSOF (now PFL) champion David Branch while legendary Silva looks for his first victory in over two years.
An incredible featherweight strap will also go down on the pay-per-view between one of the greatest fighters all-time, Jose Aldo, and the 16-fight win streak of Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski.
A fight between Carlos Diego Ferreira and Francisco Trinaldo was scheduled for the main card until an unsafe weight-cut attempt from Ferreira resulted in the fight being cancelled. As a result, only four fights instead of five will be counted towards staff picks.
STAFF PICKS
Throughout the year, staff picks will be composed of four different MMA promotions: UFC, Bellator, ONE, and RIZIN. Main cards will make up both UFC and Bellator picks, while the biggest fights to make up ONE and RIZIN events will be used. The WINNER of staff picks will have a choice between receiving a championship belt from ProAmBelts or a championship chain from Championship Chains. The 2018 winner was awarded to Michael DeSantis, compiling a record of 202-101.
Check out our MMASucka staff picks for UFC 237 below, as well as our current records in 2019.
Staff Records after ONE Championship: Warriors of Light
1. Ed Gallo: 109-49
2. Michael DeSantis: 108-50
3. Connor Deitrich: 103-54
4. Brian Gerson: 102-56
5. Wesley Riddle: 100-58
6. Ryan Wagner: 98-52
7. Mike Skytte: 97-61
8. Jeremy Brand: 96-62
9. Justin Pierrot: 95-63
10. Omar Villagrana: 94-64
11. Mitchell Banuelos: 91-52
12. Patrick Auger: 87-64
13. Matt Bricker: 86-62
14. Ash Camyab: 85-57
15. Suraj Sukumar: 46-16 (inactive)
16. Sasha Moksyakov: 31-16 (inactive)
17. Idrees Crawley: 15-7 (inactive)
18. Frazer Krohn: 15-9
19. Ryan Hobbs: 14-16
20. Andrew Benjamin: 4-2
Thiago Alves (23-13) vs. Laureano Staropoli (8-1)
Jeremy Brand: Alves via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Alves via Round 2 TKO
Mike Skytte: Alves via Round 3 TKO
Justin Pierrot: Alves via UD
Michael DeSantis: Alves via UD
Ryan Wagner: Alves via UD
Mitchell Banuelos: Alves via UD
Ed Gallo: Alves via Round 2 TKO
Omar Villagrana: Alves via UD
Brian Gerson: Alves via UD
Matt Bricker: Alves via SD
Connor Deitrich: Alves via SD
Patrick Auger: Alves via UD
Ash Camyab: Alves via UD
Ryan Hobbs: Staropoli via UD
Frazer Krohn: Alves via Round 2 TKO
Matheus Costa: Alves via UD
Staff picking Alves: 16
Staff picking Staropoli: 1
Jose Aldo (28-4) vs. Alexander Volkanovski (19-1)
Jeremy Brand: Volkanovski via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Aldo via Round 2 TKO
Mike Skytte: Aldo via Round 1 TKO
Justin Pierrot: Volkanovski via UD
Michael DeSantis: Aldo via UD
Ryan Wagner: Aldo via Round 1 TKO
Mitchell Banuelos: Aldo via Round 2 TKO
Ed Gallo: Aldo via Round 2 TKO
Omar Villagrana: Volkanovski via UD
Brian Gerson: Volkanovski via UD
Matt Bricker: Aldo via Round 1 TKO
Connor Deitrich: Aldo via UD
Patrick Auger: Aldo via Round 3 TKO
Ash Camyab: Volkanovski via Round 3 TKO
Ryan Hobbs: Aldo via UD
Frazer Krohn: Aldo via SD
Matheus Costa: Aldo via UD
Staff picking Aldo: 12
Staff picking Volkanovski: 5
Jared Cannonier (11-4) vs. Anderson Silva (34-9, 1 NC)
Jeremy Brand: Silva via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Silva via UD
Mike Skytte: Cannonier via UD
Justin Pierrot: Silva via UD
Michael DeSantis: Silva via UD
Ryan Wagner: Cannonier via UD
Mitchell Banuelos: Cannonier via Round 2 TKO
Ed Gallo: Cannonier via Round 2 TKO
Omar Villagrana: Silva via UD
Brian Gerson: Silva via SD
Matt Bricker: Silva via UD
Connor Deitrich: Cannonier via UD
Patrick Auger: Silva via UD
Ash Camyab: Silva via Round 3 TKO
Ryan Hobbs: Cannonier via UD
Frazer Krohn: Cannonier via Round 2 TKO
Matheus Costa: Cannonier via UD
Staff picking Cannonier: 8
Staff picking Silva: 9
Rose Namajunas (8-3) vs. Jessica Andrade (19-6)
Jeremy Brand: Namajunas via Round 2 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Andrade via UD
Mike Skytte: Andrade via UD
Justin Pierrot: Namajunas via UD
Michael DeSantis: Namajunas via UD
Ryan Wagner: Namajunas via UD
Mitchell Banuelos: Namajunas via UD
Ed Gallo: Namajunas via UD
Omar Villagrana: Andrade via UD
Brian Gerson: Namajunas via UD
Matt Bricker: Andrade via UD
Connor Deitrich: Namajunas via UD
Patrick Auger: Andrade via UD
Ash Camyab: Namajunas via Round 4 SUB
Ryan Hobbs: Andrade via Round 3 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Namajunas via UD
Matheus Costa: Namajunas via Round 4 SUB
Staff picking Namajunas: 11
Staff picking Andrade: 6
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