UFC Fight Night 218 predictions: Have our Derrick Lewis-Serghei Spivac picks changed?
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George Garcia |
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Matthew Wells |
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Simon Samano |
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Matt Erickson | 
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Brian Garcia  2017 Champion |
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Danny Segura |
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Ken Hathaway 2018, 2022 Champion |
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Farah Hannoun |
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Mike Bohn 2014 Champion |
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Abbey Subhan |
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Nolan King |
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The UFC is back in its home base after a week off, and a rebooked heavyweight clash tops the card.
UFC Fight Night 218 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, two-time heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis (26-10 MMA, 17-8 UFC) takes on Serghei Spivac (15-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC). The two were supposed to headline UFC Fight Night 215 in November, but Lewis became ill during the event and wasn’t cleared to fight.
Spivac is a modest favorite at -240 at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Lewis is +180. But our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are going with him in an upset at a hefty 9-2 clip.
When our staff members first picked this fight this past November, Lewis also had a 9-2 lead in the picks. But oddly, the two pickers who took Spivac the first time switched to Lewis this week, and the two who are picking Spivac this time around had Lewis in November.
In the co-feature, Devin Clark (13-7 MMA, 7-7 UFC) meets Da-un Jung (15-3-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) at light heavyweight. Jung is a -250 favorite at the betting window and has a 7-4 edge from our pickers.
Also on the main card, Blagoy Ivanov (19-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and Marcin Tybura (23-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) meet at heavyweight. Tybura only is a -135 favorite in the fight, but he’s a near-unanimous pick from our staff members at 10-1.
The only unanimous pick on the main card is Dooho Choi (14-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in his featherweight bout against Kyle Nelson (13-5 MMA, 1-4 UFC). Choi is a betting favorite of nearly 2-1.
And to open the main card, Adam Fugitt (8-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) takes on Yusaku Kinoshita (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at welterweight. Kinoshita is the biggest favorite on the main card at -350, but three of our pickers are taking Fugitt in an upset.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Lewis (54 percent), Jung (80 percent), Tybura (82 percent), Choi (86 percent) and 72 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 218.
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UFC Fight Night 218 pre-event facts: Will Derrick Lewis add to knockout record?
