UFC 179 staff picks: Splits with Aldo vs. Mendes, Teixeira vs. Davis

MMAjunkie’s writers and radio hosts don’t have any unanimous picks for Saturday’s UFC 179 main card. In fact, we’re split on the co-headliners.

UFC 179, which airs on pay-per-view from Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro, is a top-heavy card. And in our staff picks, the top two fights proved evenly matched.

UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo (24-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and challenger Chad Mendes (16-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC), as well as light heavyweights Phil Davis (12-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) vs. Glover Teixeira (22-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC), both resulted in 4-4 picks.

Also on the card, light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado (21-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) was a near-unanimous 7-1 pick over Hans Stringer (22-5-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC). Featherweight Darren Elkins (17-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) was the same lopsided choice over Lucas Martins (15-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), as was lightweight Diego Ferreira (11-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) over Beneil Dariush (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

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 “Walter White and “sadowolf” are our overall leaders in some closely contested categories.

For more on UFC 179, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.