The UFC is back in Texas in front of fans this week, and an interim belt is on the line.
UFC 265 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, Houston native Derrick Lewis (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) takes on Ciryl Gane (9-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) for the interim heavyweight title. Gane is a sizable betting favorite at -400 at Tipico, but it’s Lewis with a 7-6 edge in the picks from our 13 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers.
In the co-feature, former featherweight champion Jose Aldo (29-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) continues his run at bantamweight when he takes on Pedro Munhoz (19-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC). Aldo is just a slight favorite at -120, and only three of our pickers are going against him.
Also on the main card, Michael Chiesa (17-4 MMA, 11-4 UFC) takes on Vicente Luque (20-7-1 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in a key welterweight matchup. Luque is just a slight favorite at -125, but it’s Chiesa who has an 8-5 lead in the picks.
Angela Hill (13-9 MMA, 8-9 UFC) meets Tecia Torres (12-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) in a women’s strawweight bout. Torres is a -145 favorite at the betting window, and she’s got a slim edge in our picks at 8-5.
And to open the main card, Casey Kenney (16-3-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is a -120 favorite at bbantamweight against Song Yadong (16-5-1 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC), but he’s got a big picks lead at 9-4.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Lewis (61 percent), Aldo (59 percent), Luque (51 percent), Hill (50.1 percent) and Yadong (55 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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