UFC 277 Predictions: Bleacher Report Main Card Staff Picks

UFC 277 goes down this Saturday in Dallas. It's not quite the blockbuster we got with UFC 276 earlier this month, but it's still a good one, with two important title fights on the bill.

Headlining honors will go to a bantamweight title fight between champion Julianna Pena and challenger Amanda Nunes, who holds the UFC featherweight title. It will be the pair's second meeting after Pena submitted Nunes last December in one of the biggest upsets in women's MMA history.

UFC 277 will be co-headlined by an interim flyweight title fight, as former champion Brandon Moreno takes on Kai Kara-France to keep the division moving while undisputed king Deiveson Figueiredo deals with some issues outside the cage.

Before the title fights get started, Houstonian heavyweight Derrick Lewis will look for a big win in front of a partisan crowd at the expense of rising Russian contender Sergei Pavlovich.

The rest of the main card will be rounded out by a flyweight scrap between Alex Perez and Alexandre Pantoja, who's been tabbed as a backup fighter for the co-main event, and a light heavyweight fight between ranked contenders Anthony Smith and Magomed Ankalaev.

As we wait for the action to begin, the B/R combat sports squad has come together for another round of predictions. Keep scrolling to see who everyone is picking.

Scott Harris: There wasn't anything in Nunes' original performance that wasn't correctable. It's not like she was exposed as a fraud; she was just underprepared and not the better fighter that night. With the benefits of a full camp, full health (that we know of) and full focus, Nunes will reclaim her spot atop the bantamweight division. If you're into betting, DraftKings as of Thursday had Nunes at +110 to end the fight by knockout. Pena is tough, but I'd look at that long and hard.

Nunes by TKO, Rd. 2

Tom Taylor: It's hard for me to write about this fight without sounding like I have no respect for Julianna Pena's skills. I promise that's not the case. I just think she got very lucky the first time she fought Amanda Nunes, because she caught the GOAT at her least motivated and least prepared and happened to put forth the best effort of her own career on the same night. The stars aren't going to align for her like that the second time around. Nunes is probably going to be well-prepared, and if she is, she'll have the current queen beat in almost every area. I'm with Scott.

Nunes by TKO, Rd. 2

Lyle Fitzsimmons: The first fight provided one of the most thrilling nights in UFC history because it again illustrated how—more so than in boxing—almost anything can happen once the cage door closes. Still, as weird as it sounds to say, it almost feels like Pena winning again would be a bigger upset than her winning the first one. If she does, then her all-time star rises to ridiculous levels and Nunes' plummets. But I can't see it happening. The GOAT is more patient, more precise and ultimately more deadly.

Nunes by TKO, Rd. 4

Scott Harris: Kara-France, the New Zealander who trains alongside Israel Adesanya, Alex Volkanovski and many others at Auckland's City Kickboxing gym, and Moreno, the first Mexican-born UFC champion, put on a show when they first fought back at UFC 245. Moreno got the better of that one, but Kara-France is a different fighter now, with a striking game that uses the same feint- and footwork-heavy approach that other City Kickboxing standouts have used to devastating effect. Moreno is the better ground fighter here, but Kara-France stops takedowns at an 86 percent clip, per UFC Stats. I just think Kara-France is the more dynamic fighter and athlete here. So sound the upset alarms for a new UFC (interim) champion.

Kara-France by unanimous decision

Tom Taylor: Brandon Moreno is the most exciting thing to happen to the men's flyweight division in a long time. In my opinion, he and Deiveson Figueiredo deserve far more credit for "saving" the long-struggling weight class than Henry Cejudo, who has previously taken credit for doing just that, but that's neither here nor there. My point is that Moreno is amazing. And as luck would have it, his UFC 277 opponent Kai Kara-France is too. Both guys have hit their share of speed bumps in the past, but heading into the card, they both seem to be in the prime of their fighting lives. That makes this a tough one to call, but I'm going to lean toward the former champ Moreno because I think he's going to be a lot more dangerous if this fight hits the mat. Kara-France's takedown defense stat is nice, but I think it gets a little worse in this one.

Moreno by unanimous decision

Lyle Fitzsimmons: Here's one that looks like a can't-miss matchup going in. And while sometimes those are precisely the ones that do miss, these guys appear too evenly matched for that to occur. While Moreno seems to have a decided advantage if things get to the floor, he was able to win the first one without going that route. And unless Kara-France does something special, he won't need to again. Look for a good, competitive striking match that Moreno is simply better in.

Moreno by unanimous decision

Scott Harris: The inimitable Lewis drew laughs this week when he admitted to not knowing who Pavlovich is. Whether posturing or not, that's a bit of a risky mindset against the slight betting favorite and thunder-fisted Russian. Still, Lewis is a grizzled veteran with power to burn. He's been through the wars and he'll have enough to get through another one, even if he doesn't appear to be taking it so seriously during fight week.

Lewis by TKO, Rd. 1

Tom Taylor: Lewis deserves some serious props for accepting a fight with Sergei Pavlovich. It's an extremely dangerous matchup, and it offers little in the way of rewards, as the Russian is ranked six spots below him at heavyweight. Lewis has taken fights with rising contenders in the past. Usually, they've gone his way. This time around, I don't think it will. After losing to Alistair Overeem in one of the cruelest UFC debuts in history, Pavlovich has rattled off three straight wins and looks increasingly like a future title contender. I think this is the fight where he finally becomes one for real.

Pavlovich by TKO, Rd. 2

Lyle Fitzsimmons: There are some fighters I like a lot. For example, I'm a huge Charles Oliveira fan. I'm a huge Holly Holm fan. But Derrick Lewis isn't and never has been one of the ones who does it for me. I respect his accomplishments and don't deny that he belongs where he is, but I've never watched him and thought, 'Wow, that guy's impressive.' He faces a younger, faster, and longer foe here, and I can't see him winning unless a big shot lands. It says here that it won't.

Pavlovich by unanimous decision

Scott Harris: Pantoja likes to brawl so much that it's easy to forget that he's about as high-level a jiu-jitsu player as there is in the flyweight division. That will negate the advantage Perez holds over most other people on the ground. This will be a fun one, and Pantoja will be well-positioned to enter the division's weird title picture after Saturday.

Pantoja by unanimous decision

Tom Taylor: This is one of the hardest matchups to pick on the main card if you ask me. Both Pantoja and Perez have proved that they're near the top of the flyweight heap, capable of beating just about anybody except the top few guys. It's hard to say who has the upper hand in this matchup, but I'm going to go with Pantoja because he has a better track record against better opposition and because he's been looking a lot more measured in his last few fights. That should serve him well in one.

Pantoja by unanimous decision

Lyle Fitzsimmons: It has not been all that long since Perez was a championship-level fighter. That championship-level match didn't go especially well for him, but Deiveson Figueiredo isn't a soft touch for anyone. Perez's absence for a couple of years since has maybe made folks forget about him, but I feel like his return here will remind them of his all-around game. He's slightly busier with both strikes and takedowns, and the main-card slot on a pay-per-view show ought to combat the rust.

Perez by split decision

Scott Harris: I like Smith as a fighter, a commentator, and a human being. He's also on a three-fight win streak consisting entirely of first-round stoppages. But I've learned the hard way not to go against the Dagestanis. Outside of his debut fight, a loss to Paul Craig that came literally at the last second of the contest, Ankalaev is undefeated in the UFC. He has the ground game to defuse striking battles and keep Smith under wraps.

Ankalaev by unanimous decision

Tom Taylor: I'll keep this one brief. As good as Smith is, he is clearly a bit undersized for the light heavyweight division, and that becomes very clear when he fights powerful hulks like Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic, both of whom outmuscled him in the cage. Ankalaev, who might actually be better than Teixeira or Rakic, should be able to do the same.

Ankalaev by unanimous decision

Lyle Fitzsimmons: I think Smith is a good guy and a good fighter. His ring entrance to "Return of the Mack" at UFC 261 in Jacksonville last year—less than 12 months after getting absolutely brutalized by Glover Teixeira—remains one of my favorite in-person UFC moments, and I'll root for him to carry that same magic this time, too. Against a guy as good as Ankalaev seems to be, that's a big ask, but just because the Dagestani has won eight straight doesn't mean he's title-worthy just yet. Consider this a final exam.

Smith by unanimous decision