UFC Fight Night 45 staff picks: Cerrone gets edge over Miller, Barboza unanimous

Unlike the co-headliner, Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 45 main event didn’t result in a unanimous choice in the MMAjunkie staff picks. But it was close.

In the FOX Sports 1-televised headliner, which takes place at Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, Donald Cerrone (23-6 MMA, 10-3 UFC) was the 6-2 choice over fellow ranked lightweight Jim Miller (24-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC). Despite (near) home-field advantage, Cerrone got the edge.

In the co-headliner, lightweight Edson Barboza (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was the unanimous pick over 12-fight UFC vet Evan Dunham (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC).

Additionally, despite a lengthy UFC tenure, -300 favorite Rick Story (16-8 MMA, 9-6 UFC) wasn’t a unanimous pick over Leonardo Mafra (11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who got two of the eight staff votes.

Also on the card, Joe Proctor (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) got the nod over fellow lightweight Justin Salas (12-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC), John Lineker (23-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) was the clear favorite over fellow flyweight Alptekin Ozkilic (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), and Lucas Martins (14-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), despite being a small underdog to fellow featherweight Alex White (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), was the staff choice.

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 “Kyle Laverty” and “Shut_The_Fitch_Up” are the leaders.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 45, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.