Mitrione vs. Nelson Campos vs. Freire McGeary vs. Nemkov Hardy vs. Julaton Claxton vs. Perez MMAjunkie readers’ consensus picks 2018: 15-12 Mitrione (63%) Freire (74%) McGeary (82%) Hardy (83%) Claxton (75%) Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2018: 17-10 Mitrione Campos McGeary Hardy Claxton Simon Samano @SJSamano 2018: 17-10 Mitrione Freire McGeary Hardy Claxton Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2018: 17-10 Nelson Freire Nemkov Julaton Claxton Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2018: 16-11 2014 Champion Mitrione Freire McGeary Hardy Claxton Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven 2018: 15-12 Mitrione Campos McGeary Hardy Claxton Dann Stupp @DannStupp 2018: 15-12 2015 Champion Mitrione Freire McGeary Hardy Claxton Trent Reinsmith @TrentReinsmith 2018: 15-12 Mitrione Campos McGeary Julaton Claxton John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2018: 14-13 Mitrione Campos McGeary Hardy Claxton George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2018: 15-12 Nelson Campos McGeary Julaton Claxton Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2018: 14-13 2016 Champion Mitrione Freire McGeary Hardy Claxton Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2018: 14-13 Nelson Campos McGeary Julaton Claxton Fernanda Prates @nandaprates_ 2018: 13-14 Mitrione Freire McGeary Hardy Claxton Brian Garcia @thegoze 2018: 13-14 2017 Champion Mitrione Freire McGeary Julaton Claxton Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2018: 12-15 Mitrione Campos McGeary Julaton Claxton

Bellator returns Friday with its second heavyweight grand prix opening-round matchup in the main event.

Bellator 194 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Unasville, Conn. The main card airs on Paramount following prelims on MMAjunkie.

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

In the main event, Matt Mitrione (12-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) takes on Roy Nelson (22-14 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in the heavyweight tournament. The fight is a rematch from when both fought in the UFC, and Nelson won that fight with a first-round knockout. Mitrione is favored this time around, and also is favored to win the whole tournament and become the next Bellator heavyweight champion. He’s also a big favorite among our 14 MMAjunkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers. Of them, 11 of 14 are picking Mitrione.

In the co-feature, Derek Campos (19-6 MMA, 8-4 BMMA) takes on Patricky Freire (18-8 MMA, 11-7 BMMA) in a lightweight bout that could determine next in line in the title-shot pecking order after champ Brent Primus defends his title in a rematch with former champ Michael Chandler in April. The voting is a 7-7 coin flip with our staff members, despite Campos’ status as a 2-1 underdog.

Heather Hardy (1-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) and Ana Julaton (2-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) are pro boxers who are new to the MMA game. They’ll fight each other in a women’s flyweight bout Friday, then book a boxing match later this year in a unique crossover rivarly opportunity. Although Hardy is more than a 3-1 favorite, she has just an 8-6 edge in our picks.

There are two blowouts in our picks, including one unanimous choice. After landing a viral flying knee for a knockout in his pro debut in October, Tywan Claxton (1-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) has the confidence of all 14 of our pickers in his featherweight follow-up against Jose Antonio Perez (0-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA). And former light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary (12-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) is a near-unanimous choice against Vadim Nemkov (8-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Only one brave soul is taking Nemkov to win – though he’s only a very mild underdog.

In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Mitrione, Freire, McGeary, Hardy and Claxton are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on Bellator 194, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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