UFC 271 Predictions: Bleacher Report Main Card Staff Picks

UFC 271 goes down Saturday in Houston, and it looks like it will be an excellent night of fights.

In the main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will look for his fourth successful title defense. Standing across from him will be Robert Whittaker, the man he knocked out to win the title back in 2019 and who has since rattled off three impressive wins over top contenders to earn a shot at redemption.

UFC 271 will be co-headlined by a Texas-sized heavyweight showdown, as Houston's own Derrick Lewis takes on Australia's Tai Tuivasa. The pair are not only two of the most exciting knockout artists in the division, but they are two of the most endearing personalities in all of MMA. It's going to be a fun one.

Those fights will be preceded by a middleweight contender clash between Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier, with a shot at the Adesanya-Whittaker winner potentially hanging in the balance.

The main card will be kicked off by a bantamweight scrap between Kyler Phillips and Marcelo Rojo and a lightweight battle between Nasrat Haqparast and Bobby Green.

It remains to be seen how these five main card fights will end, but the B/R combat sports crew has you covered for predictions. Here's how we see the UFC 271 main card shaking out.

Lyle Fitzsimmons: I like Whittaker. He's a good fighter, and I respect the career resurrection he's managed across his last three appearances. But when it comes to reversing the result of his first fight with Adesanya, there's simply no there there. The method may be different, but the winner won't be.

Adesanya by unanimous decision.

Scott Harris: Whittaker was brilliant in his last fight with Kelvin Gastelum. He had better takedowns, better defense on the feet and a jab that simply wouldn't let Gastelum rest. However, Gastelum is not the contender he once was, going 3-6-1 dating back to 2017.

Meanwhile, Adesanya addressed concerns about his defensive wrestling against hard-charging Marvin Vettori, stopping 10 of 14 takedowns and getting back up faster than he did against then-light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz. Here's guessing that continues: Adesanya keeps the fight standing and again shows off some of the best striking in the MMA world today.

Adesanya by TKO, Rd. 2.

Tom Taylor: Scott's right. Adesanya stopped a lot of takedowns against Marvin Vettori. But he also gave a few up. And we all remember his smothering loss to Blachowicz up at light heavyweight. Between those two fights, he was taken down seven times and controlled for just over 14 minutes. For my money, Whittaker is a better wrestler than either Blachowicz or Vettori, even if he didn't show it in his first with Adesanya. You see where I'm going here. Whittaker wrestles his way to victory and sets up the trilogy.

Whittaker by unanimous decision.

Lyle Fitzsimmons: It feels like it should be a fun fight. Maybe one of the most fun all year. And even though matchups like that have a habit of falling short, I'll stay optimistic for fireworks. As for drinking beers out of shoes, though, I don't think it'll be necessary. Lewis lands. Tuivasa falls.

Lewis by TKO, Rd. 2.

Scott Harris: The knockout king and the shoey king in one Octagon? Count me in. Lewis is a smart and seasoned fighter, but he is hittable, with a 41 percent strike defense rate, which is more than 30 percentage points below the UFC leaders in this category. Meanwhile, Tuivasa has a solid chin that should be able to withstand Lewis long enough for him to outpunch Lewis in a donnybrook. Sound the upset alarms. 

Tuivasa by TKO, Rd. 1.

Tom Taylor: I hate to stomp all over Lyle's and Scott's shoey references, but it sounds like Tuivasa may be moving on to bigger and better (weirder and grosser) things. I digress. The size and power of these guys make this a tough fight to predict confidently, but it's hard to pick against the knockout king, especially when Tuivasa has been rocked and even stopped by punches before. 

Lewis by KO, Rd. 1.

Lyle Fitzsimmons: Cannonier is a physical marvel. And though he's lost five times in his career, four of them have come to past or current champs. Brunson has lost to some high-enders, too—and is on a five-fight win streak—but I feel like Cannonier has more of a top end to use here in a close one.

Cannonier by unanimous decision.

Scott Harris: Rescheduled from UFC 270, this features two Top Five middleweights. In his submission win over Darren Till last September, Brunson looked as good as he's ever looked, racking up more than seven minutes of control time and landing 101 strikes, including 29 on the ground. Cannonier is a knockout artist through and through, but Brunson's takedowns have proved to be an effective circuit breaker when the heat is on. Sound the upset alarms. Sound them!

Brunson by unanimous decision.

Tom Taylor: I didn't realize Brunson was the underdog in this matchup until I read Scott's prediction. That seems crazy to me. Brunson used to be a good MMA wrestler with some of the most defensively porous striking in the middleweight division. Today, he's a great MMA wrestler with a far more measured approach to striking. He looks to me like a fighter who has found his groove. I suspect he will keep grooving this weekend, even in the face of Cannonier's immense power. So as Scott said, sound those upset alarms.

Brunson by unanimous decision.

Lyle Fitzsimmons: Rojo arrived to the UFC with a solid reputation and a nice record, but his debut was less than stellar and ended in a third-round finish loss to Charles Jourdain. Phillips lost his last one, too, but it was a close one, and it says here he's closer to back up his hype. 

Phillips by unanimous decision.

Scott Harris: Sometimes, the obvious call is the correct one. This is a showcase fight for Phillips, the 26-year-old with the complete skill set. He still has a lot of believers, despite the loss to Raulian Paiva. This is his gift-wrapped chance to get right.

Phillips by unanimous decision.

Tom Taylor: This should be a fun fight, which is why it's on the main card, but I don't expect it to be competitive. Phillips is clearly the more skilled fighter at this juncture, contrary to his recent loss to Paiva, which, as Lyle said, was close. He styles on Rojo like he did Song Yadong last year.

Phillips by unanimous decision.

Lyle Fitzsimmons: The 20-something wannabe meets the 30-something veteran in the classic barometer scenario. Green has been a durable UFC commodity since 2013 and is a tick better than .500 (9-7-1) in 17 fights. Haqparast gets to him, lands some shots and gets it done on the cards.

Haqparast by unanimous decision.

Scott Harris: A classic banger to open the pay-per-view broadcast. Both of these men can crack (Haqparast is often underrated in this area), but my money's on the veteran in Green, who has seen a thing or two inside the Octagon and won't wilt from the big lights.

Green, TKO, Rd. 2.

Tom Taylor: While they're at different stages of their careers, Haqparast and Green are united by being completely inconsistent when it comes to results. They'll win a few, then lose a big one. Rinse and repeat. It makes it really hard to have a lot of faith in either guy, but I do agree with Scott that Green's experience should serve him well here. He lands harder—and more—for 15 minutes. 

Green by unanimous decision.