Werdum

vs.

Miocic Souza

vs.

Belfort Justino

vs.

Smith Rua

vs.

Anderson Alves

vs.

Barberena MMAjunkie readers’

consensus picks

2016 picks: 49-17

Werdum

(56%)

Souza

(74%)

Justino

(94%)

Anderson

(60%)

Alves

(76%) Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2016 picks: 48-18

Werdum

Souza

Justino

Anderson

Alves Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven

2016 picks: 47-19

Werdum

Souza

Justino

Anderson

Alves Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt

2016 picks: 43-23

Miocic

Souza

Justino

Anderson

Alves Brian Garcia

@thegoze

2016 picks: 42-24

Werdum

Souza

Justino

Rua

Alves Brent Brookhouse @BrentBrookhouse 2016 picks: 42-24

Werdum

Souza

Justino

Anderson

Barberena Dann Stupp

@DannStupp

2016 picks: 42-24

2015 Champion

Werdum

Souza

Justino

Anderson

Alves Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA

2016 picks: 40-26

2014 Champion

Werdum

Souza

Justino

Rua

Alves John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn

2016 picks: 39-27

Werdum

Souza

Justino

Anderson

Alves George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2016 picks: 36-30

Miocic

Souza

Justino

Anderson

Alves

You’re not going to see much variety in MMAjunkie’s staff picks for UFC 198, though a few brave souls are predicting upsets.

At tonight’s UFC 198 event, which airs on pay-per-view from Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, many big names are in action (a few are even part of the FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass prelims). But on paper, they’re not all competitive matchups, and a few heavy favorites are consensus or near-consensus picks among our staff.

The most evenly matched main-card bout is actually the headliner. Heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1 MMA, 8-2 UFC) is a -160 (1.6-to-1) favorite over challenger Stipe Miocic (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC). The champ is a 7-2 choice among MMAjunkie’s writers, editors and radio hosts.

Elsewhere on the card, Ronaldo Souza (22-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is a unanimous choice over fellow middleweight Vitor Belfort (25-11 MMA, 14-7 UFC), and Cristiane Justino (15-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is the 9-0 pick over Leslie Smith (8-6-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in their 140-pound catchweight fight. Additionally, Corey Anderson (8-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is a 7-2 choice over former light-heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua (23-10 MMA, 7-8 UFC), and welterweight Warlley Alves (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is an 8-1 pick over Bryan Barberena (11-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Werdum, Souza, Justino, Anderson and Alves are the choices.

Check out all the picks above. Additionally, leave your individual main-card picks below. As usual, MMAjunkie reader “IAMMA” is organizing the MMAjunkie Member Picks, where “Kyle Pineapple” and “D Lip” are our leaders.

For more on UFC 198, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.