UFC 223 staff picks: Is anyone picking Al Iaquinta to upset Khabib Nurmagomedov?

	Nurmagomedov vs. Iaquinta	Namajunas vs. Jedrzejczyk	Kattar vs. Moicano	Bochniak vs. Magomedsharipov	Gruetzemacher vs. Lauzon
MMAjunkie readers’ consensus picks 2018: 30-21	Nurmagomedov (67%)	Namajunas (53%)	Kattar (69%)	Magomedsharipov (90%)	Lauzon (80%)
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2018: 32-19	Nurmagomedov	Namajunas	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2018: 31-20	Nurmagomedov	Namajunas	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2018: 30-21	Nurmagomedov	Namajunas	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven 2018: 29-22	Nurmagomedov	Namajunas	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2018: 29-22 2016 Champion	Nurmagomedov	Jedrzejczyk	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2018: 29-22 2014 Champion	Nurmagomedov	Namajunas	Moicano	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Dann Stupp @DannStupp 2018: 29-22 2015 Champion	Nurmagomedov	Jedrzejczyk	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Fernanda Prates @nandaprates_ 2018: 28-23	Nurmagomedov	Jedrzejczyk	Moicano	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Trent Reinsmith @TrentReinsmith 2018: 28-23	Nurmagomedov	Namajunas	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2018: 26-25	Nurmagomedov	Namajunas	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2018: 26-25	Nurmagomedov	Namajunas	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2018: 25-26	Iaquinta	Namajunas	Moicano	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2018: 24-27 2017 Champion	Nurmagomedov	Jedrzejczyk	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2018: 23-28	Nurmagomedov	Jedrzejczyk	Kattar	Magomedsharipov	Lauzon

The most last-minute shufflingest card in UFC history is here, and at long last, we still have staff picks for you.

UFC 223 will take place Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1. The event had 13 fights on Thursday morning, but now will go forward with just nine.

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

In the main event, Khabib Nurmagomedov (25-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) will fight Al Iaquinta (13-3-1 MMA, 8-2 UFC), and the winner will become the new lightweight champion. Iaquinta was supposed to open the main card against Paul Felder, but when featherweight champion Max Holloway (19-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was declared unfit to weigh in Friday, Iaquinta ultimately was chosen as the replacement. The unbeaten Nurmagomedov is a heavy favorite, and only one of our 14 MMAjunkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers is picking against him to win the fight and finally become a UFC champ.

In the co-feature, women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (7-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) will take on former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk (14-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in a rematch from UFC 217, where Namajunas handed Jedrzejczyk her first loss to win the belt in a big upset. Jedrzejczyk is the favorite, despite being the challenger, but confidence in her has waned among our staff members. New champ Namajunas is a 9-5 pick in the rematch.

Also on the main card, Calvin Kattar (18-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will fight Renato Moicano (11-1-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at featherweight and is our biggest favorite on the main card at 12-2 with our pickers. He’s just a slight -150 favorite in the fight against the Brazilian.

Zabit Magomedsharipov (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is the biggest favorite at UFC 223 at 7-1 in his featherweight fight against Kyle Bochniak (8-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC). Their fight was moved to the main card late Thursday from the UFC Fight Pass prelims after Michael Chiesa had to be pulled from his fight with Anthony Pettis. Not surprisingly, Magomedsharipov is a unanimous pick at 14-0.

And the new lightweight fight to open the main card is between Chris Gruetzemacher (13-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) and Joe Lauzon (27-14 MMA, 14-11 UFC), which moved up from the FS1 prelims. With Iqauinta fighting Nurmagomedov, Paul Felder (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) was left without an opponent. He’ll fight another day. But on this day, it’s Lauzon who is a unanimous pick.

In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Nurmagomedov, Namajunas, Kattar, Magomedsharipov and Lauzon are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on UFC 223, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.