UFC 188 staff picks: Is anyone picking 4-1 underdog Fabricio Werdum?

Only one of the five fights on Saturday’s UFC 188 card is truly a contentious one among MMAjunkie’s editors, writers and radio hosts. The other four are unanimous or near-unanimous.

UFC 188, which includes a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass from Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, has a heavyweight title-unification bout as its main event.

Champion Cain Velasquez (13-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) is the favorite over interim titleholder and 4-1 underdog Fabricio Werdum (19-5-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC), despite the fact he’s been out of action for 20 months. But all nine of our staffers are going with the champ, a Mexican-American fighting in Mexico for the first time.

Two other fights on the main card are unanimous picks from our crew. Tecia Torres (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is a 9-0 selection to beat fellow “TUF 20? cast member Angela Hill (2-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in their women’s strawweight bout and main-card opener. And Kelvin Gastelum (10-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is a unanimous choice over Nate Marquardt (33-14-2 MMA, 11-7 MMA). Gastelum is moving up to middleweight after failing to make weight in two of his past three welterweight bouts.

Additionally, featherweight Charles Rosa (10-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has eight of nine picking him to beat Yair Rodriguez (4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC). Rosa is more than a 2-1 favorite.

The fight that has our crew truly split is the lightweight co-feature between former Bellator MMA champion Eddie Alvarez (25-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and former Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez (22-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC). Melendez is the favorite, and five of our nine are picking him to beat Alvarez, who has four siding with him.

Check out all the picks above. Additionally, leave your main-card picks below. As usual, MMAjunkie reader “IAMMA” is organizing the MMAjunkie Member Picks, where “Jack” and “Sam De Santis” are our leaders.

And for more on UFC 188, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.