| Brunson vs. Shahbazyan |
Calderwood vs. Maia |
Brown vs. Luque |
Green vs. Vannata |
Giles vs. Holland |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 71-46 |
Shahbazyan (76%) |  Calderwood (72%) |
 Luque (90%) |
 Vannata (53%) |
 Holland (86%) |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 84-33 |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Vannata |
Holland |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 83-34 |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
 Green |
Holland |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 82-35 |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Vannata |
Holland |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 80-37  2014 Champion |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Vannata |
 Giles |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 79-38 |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Vannata |
Holland |
| Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 78-39 2019 Champion* |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Green |
Holland |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 78-39 2017 Champion |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Green |
Holland |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 77-40 2018 Champion |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Green |
Holland |
| Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 76-41 |
Shahbazyan |  Maia |
Luque |
Vannata |
Holland |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 75-42 |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Green |
Holland |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 73-44 |
 Brunson |
Calderwood |
Luque |
Green |
Holland |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 72-45 |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Vannata |
Holland |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 72-45 |
Shahbazyan | Calderwood |
Luque |
Vannata |
Holland |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 49-68 |
Brunson |
Maia |
 Brown |
Green |
Giles |
The UFC returns home to Las Vegas with a pair of ranked middleweight contenders at the top of the bill, looking to catapult themselves toward the top of the division with a statement victory.
UFC on ESPN+ 31 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, Edmen Shahbazyan (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is the clear favorite to defeat Derek Brunson (20-7 MMA, 11-5 UFC), with 12 of our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts selecting the undefeated prospect to continue his surge up the middleweight division. He’s also the favorite with our readers, too, with 76 percent backing him to get the win.
In the co-main event, Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) received similar backing from our panel, with 12 of the MMA Junkie team picking “JoJo” to get the victory over Jennifer Maia (17-6-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC).
Brazilian welterweight Vicente Luque (18-7-1 MMA, 11-3 UFC) is the most popular fighter on the card with our voting readers, with a whopping 90 percent picking him to prevail in his main card clash against Randy Brown (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC). Thirteen of our 14 panelists also sided with Luque in their staff picks.
A fascinating striking battle is in prospect as lightweights Bobby Green (25-10-1 MMA, 6-5 UFC) and Lando Vannata (10-4-2 MMA, 3-4-2 UFC) face off, and the vote is suitably split, with Vannata edging the fan poll with 53 percent of the vote. The pair also split our staff picks panel, too, with each man receiving seven votes each.
The middleweight main card opener offers an interesting clash, too, but the panel and the fans seem much more unified in their assessment, with 86 percent of readers, and 12 of our panelists, picking Kevin Holland (17-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) to take the victory over Trevin Giles (12-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC).
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Shahbazyan (76 percent), Calderwood (72 percent), Luque (90 percent), Vannata (53 percent), and Holland (86 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
UFC on ESPN+ 31 predictions: Who's picking Derek Brunson to halt Edmen Shahbazyan's charge?