UFC 173 staff picks: Barao, Cormier unanimous, but split with Ellenberger-Lawler

The UFC’s annual Memorial Day weekend card goes down Saturday in Las Vegas with a pair of heavy favorites topping the bill at UFC 173.

	Barao vs. Dillashaw	Cormier vs. Henderson	Lawler vs. Ellenberger	Mizugaki vs. Rivera	Varner vs. Krause
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA All-time picks: 57-29	Barao	Cormier	Lawler	Mizugaki	Varner
Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven All-time picks: 57-29	Barao	Cormier	Lawler	Rivera	Krause
Dann Stupp @MMAjunkieDann All-time picks: 57-29	Barao	Cormier	Lawler	Mizugaki	Varner
Brian Garcia @thegoze All-time picks: 56-30	Barao	Cormier	Ellenberger	Rivera	Varner
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn All-time picks: 56-30	Barao	Cormier	Ellenberger	Rivera	Varner
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt All-time picks: 55-31	Barao	Cormier	Lawler	Mizugaki	Varner
Ben Fowlkes @benfowlkesMMA All-time picks: 51-35	Barao	Cormier	Ellenberger	Mizugaki	Krause
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge All-time picks: 50-36	Barao	Cormier	Ellenberger	Rivera	Varner

All eight of our staff members believe both Renan Barao and Daniel Cormier will get their hands raised on Saturday. Both are heavy favorites in the main and co-main events, respectively.

Bantamweight champion Barao (32-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) puts hits title on the line against T.J. Dillashaw (9-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) as an 8-1 favorite. He’s a unanimous choice among our writers and MMAjunkie Radio hosts. And Cormier (14-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), a near 10-1 favorite over Dan Henderson (30-11 MMA, 7-5 UFC), has the staff picking him unanimously, as well.

Two other fights on the main card have our crew split right down the middle. Jake Ellenberger (29-7 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Robbie Lawler (22-10 MMA, 7-4 UFC) each have four votes on their side, as do Takeya Mizugaki (19-7-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Francisco Rivera (10-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC).

To open the main card, Jamie Varner (21-9-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC) has six of the eight on our staff picking him to beat James Krause (20-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC). He’s a slight favorite in the fight.

UFC 173 takes place Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Check out the full picks above.

Additionally, leave your main-card picks below. As usual, MMAjunkie reader “IAMMA” is organizing the MMAjunkie Member Picks, where “Shut_The_Fitch_Up” remains our leader.

For the latest on UFC 173, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.