One of the most stacked fight cards of the calendar year is here.
UFC 276 will begin later tonight, July 2 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card featuring two championship matchups will begin at 10:00pm ET (7:00pm PT) live on pay-per-view available for purchase through ESPN+.
Live results from all of UFC 276: Adesanya vs. Cannonier will be available here at MMASucka.
Make sure to recap our staff picks from Friday night’s PFL 6 2022 event in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Fights
In the featured main event of the night, Israel Adesanya will look to defend his middleweight title against #2-ranked Jared Cannonier.
Adesanya will be looking for his fifth promotional title defense in a UFC tenure only spanning back to February of 2018. The world-class striker hopes for his second win of the year, lastly defeating Robert Whittaker in a back-and-forth rematch by unanimous decision. Adesanya’s opponent, Cannonier, brings a standup arsenal of his own having ten of his 15 professional victories come by way of knockout. A five-round, main event decision over Kelvin Gastelum and a recent second-round finish of Derek Brunson have propelled The MMA Lab rising star to the biggest fight of his career.
Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway will meet in a trilogy bout as the two battle yet again for the featherweight championship.
Two extremely close fights in December of 2019 and July of 2020 respectively both went into the hands of Volkanovski, although Hawaii’s Holloway still remains the most dangerous threat for the title holder. Will Volkanovski tally up a fourth defense of his 145-pound strap, or will former divisional king Holloway take back what was once his?
Also on the main card sees former Glory middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, fan-favorite combat veteran Robbie Lawler, and rising 27-year-old bantamweight Sean O’Malley taking on their respected opponents. Find our staff picks for those fights from the main card of UFC 276 further below.
Staff Picks
Staff picks in 2022 will follow the same set of rules from the 2021 season. Throughout the calendar year, staff picks will be composed of main card fights from both UFC and Bellator events. Main card fights and selected preliminary fights will be included for PFL MMA. Dana White’s Contender Series will be composed of the entire fight card; dates for this promotion’s return are soon-to-be announced.
The WINNER of staff picks in 2022 will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. A winner is determined simply by the individual correctly picking the most victorious fighters at the year’s end. Nate Freeman secured his first victory with MMASucka in 2021 with a compiled record 243-136.
See below for our UFC 276 staff picks.
Staff Records after UFC Vegas 57:
1. Wesley Riddle: 121-61
2. Nate Freeman: 120-62
3. Michael DeSantis: 119-63
4. Frazer Krohn: 118-64
5T. Mike Lynch: 115-67
5T. Julio Monteros Jr.: 115-56
7. Jeremy Brand: 114-62
8. William Dong: 113-69
9. Chris Presnell: 112-70
10. Andrew Benjamin: 106-76
11. Tim Wheaton: 105-56
12. Brandon Joint: 100-59
13. Ash Camyab: 93-64
14. Coby Weinsier: 87-47
15. Brian Knight: 76-48
16. Jack Goodwillie: 74-34
17. Chinyere Okafor: 72-38
18. Jacek Okninski: 69-54
19. Matt Bricker: 24-22
20. Joe Porter: 11-5
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
*Note – PFL 6 2022 picks will be added to the above records NEXT weekend*
Pedro Munhoz (19-7, 1 NC), +240
vs.
Sean O’Malley (15-1), -285
Bantamweight Division
~ 135 lbs. ~
Jeremy Brand: O’Malley via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: O’Malley via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: O’Malley via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: O’Malley via Unanimous Decision
Mike Lynch: O’Malley via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: O’Malley via Split Decision
Tim Wheaton: Munhoz via Unanimous Decision
Chris Presnell: O’Malley via Round 1 TKO
Brandon Joint: O’Malley via Unanimous Decision
William Dong: O’Malley via Round 3 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: O’Malley via Round 3 TKO
Brian Knight: O’Malley via Round 2 TKO
Jack Goodwillie: O’Malley via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Munhoz: 1
Staff picking O’Malley: 12
Robbie Lawler (29-15, 1 NC), -110
vs.
Bryan Barberena (17-8), -110
Welterweight Division
~ 170 lbs. ~
Jeremy Brand: Lawler via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Barberena via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Lawler via Round 2 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Lawler via Round 2 TKO
Mike Lynch: Barberena via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Barberena via Unanimous Decision
Tim Wheaton: Barberena via Unanimous Decision
Chris Presnell: Lawler via Unanimous Decision
Brandon Joint: Lawler via Split Decision
William Dong: Lawler via Split Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Lawler via Majority Decision
Brian Knight: Lawler via Unanimous Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Lawler via Split Decision
Staff picking Lawler: 9
Staff picking Barberena: 4
Sean Strickland (25-3), -120
vs.
Alex Pereira (5-1), +100
Middleweight Division
~ 185 lbs. ~
Jeremy Brand: Strickland via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Strickland via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Strickland via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Strickland via Unanimous Decision
Mike Lynch: Strickland via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Pereira via Round 2 TKO
Tim Wheaton: Pereira via Round 2 TKO
Chris Presnell: Strickland via Unanimous Decision
Brandon Joint: Strickland via Unanimous Decision
William Dong: Strickland via Round 2 SUB
Julio Monteros Jr.: Pereira via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Strickland via Split Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Pereira via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking Strickland: 9
Staff picking Pereira: 4
Alexander Volkanovski (24-1), -195
vs.
Max Holloway (23-6), +165
Featherweight Divisional Championship
~ 145 lbs. ~
Jeremy Brand: Holloway via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Volkanovski via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Volkanovski via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Holloway via Split Decision
Mike Lynch: Holloway via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Volkanovski via Unanimous Decision
Tim Wheaton: Volkanovski via Unanimous Decision
Chris Presnell: Volkanovski via Unanimous Decision
Brandon Joint: Holloway via Split Decision
William Dong: Holloway via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Holloway via Split Decision
Brian Knight: Holloway via Unanimous Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Volkanovski via Split Decision
Staff picking Volkanovski: 6
Staff picking Holloway: 7
Israel Adesanya (22-1), -475
vs.
Jared Cannonier (15-5), +380
Middleweight Divisional Championship
~ 185 lbs. ~
Jeremy Brand: Adesanya via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Adesanya via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Adesanya via Round 3 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Adesanya via Round 4 TKO
Mike Lynch: Adesanya via Round 5 TKO
Nate Freeman: Adesanya via Unanimous Decision
Tim Wheaton: Adesanya via Round 3 TKO
Chris Presnell: Adesanya via Round 2 TKO
Brandon Joint: Adesanya via Unanimous Decision
William Dong: Adesanya via Round 3 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Adesanya via Round 4 TKO
Brian Knight: Adesanya via Round 4 TKO
Jack Goodwillie: Adesanya via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Adesanya: 13
Staff picking Cannonier: 0
*Fight odds from DraftKings*
UFC 276 FEATURED IMAGE:
Embed from Getty Images
