UFC 210 staff picks: Nearly a coin flip in Daniel Cormier-Anthony Johnson rematch

	Cormier vs. Johnson	Mousasi vs. Weidman	Alves vs. Cote	Brooks vs. Oliveira
MMAjunkie readers’ consensus picks 2017: 30-22	Johnson (51%)	Mousasi (57%)	Cote (57%)	Brooks
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2017: 37-15	Johnson	Mousasi	Cote	Brooks
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2017: 35-17	Cormier	Weidman	Alves	Brooks
Dann Stupp @DannStupp 2017: 33-19 2015 Champion	Cormier	Mousasi	Alves	Brooks
Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven 2017: 33-19	Johnson	Mousasi	Alves	Brooks
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2017: 32-20	Cormier	Mousasi	Cote	Brooks
Fernanda Prates @nandaprates_ 2017: 30-22	Cormier	Weidman	Alves	Brooks
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2017: 30-22 2014 Champion	Johnson	Mousasi	Cote	Brooks
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2017: 30-22	Cormier	Mousasi	Cote	Oliveira
Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2017: 30-22 2016 Champion	Cormier	Mousasi	Alves	Brooks
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2017: 24-28	Johnson	Mousasi	Alves	Brooks

(Click here to open the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

At long last, after an injury delay, Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson are set to fight for the light heavyweight title on Saturday.

UFC 210 takes place at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

In the main event, light heavyweight champion Cormier (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) rematches Johnson (22-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC). The two first fought at UFC 187 for the then-vacant belt, and Cormier won with a third-round submission. But since then, Johnson has three straight knockout wins. Will things be different in the rematch? Our 10 MMAjunkie editors, writers and radio hosts are giving the champ just a slight edge at 6-4 over Johnson.

In the co-main event, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman (13-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) meets former Strikeforce champ Gegard Mousasi (41-6-2 MMA, 8-3 UFC). Weidman has two straight losses, including when he dropped the 185-pound belt in December 2015. Mousasi has four straight wins – and the backing of our staff at an 8-2 clip.

Also on the main card, Thiago Alves (21-11 MMA, 13-8 UFC) takes on Patrick Cote (23-10 MMA, 10-10 UFC) in a welterweight fight, and six of our 10 pickers believe the Brazilian will top the Canadian.

And to open the main card, former Bellator lightweight champ Will Brooks (18-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) meets Charles Oliveira (21-7 MMA, 9-7 UFC), and Brooks is a big favorite with our staff members at 9-1.

Unfortunately, a planned main-card bout between strawweights Cynthia Calvillo (4-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Pearl Gonzalez (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was scrapped shortly after weigh-ins. Gonzalez was pulled from the card since the New York commissions bans breast implants in combat-sports competitors.

In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Johnson, Mousasi, Cote and Brooks are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on UFC 210, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

view original article >>