Although fights on the prelims don’t count toward the standings in the MMA Junkie staff picks, we still pick each fight. Here are some key results:
It’s rare when there are no unanimous picks on the prelims, but that’s how we’re going to start 2024. There are, however, a lot of blowouts on the seven-fight early lineup.
Matthew Semelsberger (11-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is a 10-1 pick at welterweight over Preston Parsons (10-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) even though he’s just a slight betting favorite in a fight that nearly is a pick’em.
For his featherweight UFC debut, Jean Silva (11-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is the biggest favorite on the card at more than 11-1 at some online sports books. Just one of our pickers is taking Westin Wilson (16-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a big upset.
Lightweight favorite of more than 3-1 Tom Nolan (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is a near-unanimous pick at 10-1 for his fight against Nikolas Motta (13-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC). And only one of our staff members is taking 2-1 underdog Felipe Bunes (13-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC) to beat Joshua Van (9-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a flyweight upset.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is a 7-4 picks leader over former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (34-22 MMA, 23-16 UFC); -230 bantamweight favorite Marcus McGhee (8-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is an 8-3 pick over Gaston Bolanos (7-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC); and 3-1 bantamweight favorite Farid Basharat (11-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is an 8-3 pick over Taylor Lapilus (19-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC).
Check out all the main card picks below.
This story originally appeared on MMA Junkie