UFC 208 staff picks: Holm or de Randamie? Silva or Brunson? Our crew nearly is split down the middle

The UFC ushers in a new weight class on Saturday with the introduction of the women’s featherweight division in its return to New York.

UFC 208 takes place Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

In the main event, former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) takes on Germaine de Randamie (7-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) for the inaugural women’s featherweight title. If Holm wins as a slight underdog, she’ll become just the fourth fighter in UFC history to hold belts in two different weight classes.

But though Holm has title fight experience from when she upset Ronda Rousey, to when she lost the 135-pound belt to Miesha Tate, our 10 MMAjunkie editors, writers and radio hosts, including new assistant editor staff addition Simon Samano, are taking de Randamie at a 6-4 clip.

In the co-feature, former longtime middleweight champ Anderson Silva (33-8 MMA, 16-4 UFC) returns to take on Derek Brunson (16-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC). Brunson is a slight favorite from the oddsmakers, but it’s the former pound-for-pound great Silva who is a 6-4 pick on our staff.

And after that, the other three main-card fights are blowouts. Ronaldo Souza (23-4 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is the heaviest betting favorite on the card at 5-1 and a unanimous pick over Tim Boetsch (20-10 MMA, 11-9 UFC) in their middleweight fight. Dustin Poirier (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) is a 3-1 favorite over lightweight veteran Jim Miller (28-8 MMA, 17-7 UFC) and also a unanimous choice to open the main card. And only one brave soul on our staff is taking Jared Cannonier (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) to upset former light heavyweight title challenger Glover Teixeira (25-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC).

In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Holm, Silva, Souza, Teixeira and Poirier are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on UFC 208, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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