UFC on FOX 18 staff picks: Heavy faves – 2 unanimous – dominate return to New Jersey

	Johnson vs. Bader	Barnett vs. Rothwell	Alcantara vs. Rivera	Northcutt vs. Barberena
MMAjunkie readers’ consensus picks 2016 picks:7-2	Johnson (73%)	Barnett (58%)	Rivera (52%)	Northcutt (84%)
Dann Stupp @DannStupp 2016 picks: 6-3 2015 Champion	Johnson	Barnett	Rivera	Northcutt
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2016 picks: 6-3	Johnson	Barnett	Rivera	Northcutt
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2016 picks: 6-3 2014 Champion	Johnson	Barnett	Rivera	Northcutt
Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2016 picks: 6-3	Johnson	Rothwell	Rivera	Northcutt
Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven 2016 picks: 6-3	Johnson	Barnett	Rivera	Northcutt
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2016 picks: 4-5	Johnson	Barnett	Rivera	Northcutt
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2016 picks: 4-5	Johnson	Rothwell	Alcantara	Northcutt
Brent Brookhouse @BrentBrookhouse 2016 picks:3-6	Johnson	Barnett	Rivera	Northcutt
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2016 picks: 1-8	Johnson	Rothwell	Rivera	Northcutt

The UFC returns to New Jersey on Saturday – since it still is without any true hope of fighting in New York – and the card is rife with heavy favorites.

In the light heavyweight main event at UFC on FOX 18, which may have a title shot on the line, recent title challenger Anthony Johnson (20-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) is the unanimous pick of our nine editors, writers and radio hosts to top the streaking Ryan Bader (20-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC).

UFC on FOX 18 takes place Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The main card airs on FOX following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

To open up the FOX-televised main card, 19-year-old sensation Sage Northcutt (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is a 5-1 favorite over Bryan Barberena (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in their welterweight fight. (Northcutt normally fights at lightweight.) And he’s also a 9-0 pick to move to 3-0 inside of his first four months in the UFC.

Jimmie Rivera (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), a New Jersey native fighting in Brooklyn, is an 8-1 pick to run his winning streak to 18 fights when he meets fellow bantamweight Iuri Alcantara (33-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC).

The only contentious bout on the main card from our pickers is the heavyweight co-main event between Josh Barnett (34-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Ben Rothwell (35-9 MMA, 5-3 UFC). In that bout, Barnett is a 6-3 choice.

In our MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, it’s Johnson, Barnett, Rivera and Northcutt – all the favorites our staffers are going with.

Check out all the picks above. Additionally, leave your individual main-card picks below. As usual, MMAjunkie reader “IAMMA” is organizing the MMAjunkie Member Picks, where a host of players sit at 8-1 after the first two events in the new year of competition.

For more on UFC on FOX 18, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.