UFC on ESPN+ 40 predictions: Can Glover Teixeira stay hot vs. Thiago Santos?

	Santos vs. Teixeira	Arlovski vs. Boser	Barcelos vs. Taha	Allen vs. Heinisch	Gadelha vs. Xiaonan
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 137-81	Santos (72%)	Boser (71%)	Barcelos (83%)	Allen (51%)	Gadelha (53%)
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 148-70	Teixeira	Boser	Barcelos	Allen	Xiaonan
Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 147-71	Santos	Boser	Barcelos	Allen	Gadelha
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 146-72	Santos	Arlovski	Barcelos	Heinisch	Gadelha
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 146-72	Santos	Boser	Taha	Allen	Gadelha
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 143-75 2014 Champion	Santos	Boser	Barcelos	Allen	Gadelha
Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 142-76 2019 Champion*	Santos	Boser	Barcelos	Allen	Xiaonan
Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 141-77	Santos	Arlovski	Barcelos	Heinisch	Gadelha
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 140-78 2017 Champion	Santos	Boser	Barcelos	Heinisch	Gadelha
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 138-80	Santos	Arlovski	Barcelos	Allen	Xiaonan
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 136-82 2018 Champion	Santos	Boser	Barcelos	Heinisch	Xiaonan
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 136-82	Santos	Boser	Barcelos	Allen	Xiaonan
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 134-84	Santos	Boser	Taha	Allen	Gadelha
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 134-84	Santos	Arlovski	Barcelos	Allen	Xiaonan
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 83-135	Teixeira	Arlovski	Taha	Heinisch	Gadelha

The UFC is back in its home base this week with a pair of former title challengers in the main event.

UFC on ESPN+ 40 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

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

In the main event, Thiago Santos (21-7 MMA, 13-6 UFC) takes on Glover Teixeira (31-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) at light heavyweight. The winner will stay in the title picture. Santos is more a -250 favorite at BetMGM; the comeback on Teixeira is +200. Among our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts, only two are taking Teixeira in an upset.

In the co-feature, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (29-19 MMA, 18-13 UFC) takes on Tanner Boser (19-6-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC). Boser is a -313 favorite, but he has just a 9-5 lead over Arlovski in the picks.

Also on the main card, Raoni Barcelos (15-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) meets Khalid Taha (14-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a bantamweight bout. Barcelos is a heavy -371 favorite and has a big 11-3 picks lead.

Brendan Allen (15-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) fights Ian Heinisch (14-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in a middleweight bout that is a pick’em with the oddsmakers. It’s close among our pickers, too, with an 8-6 lead for Allen.

And to open the main card, former women’s strawweight title challenger Claudia Gadelha (18-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) takes on Yan Xiaonan (12-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC). Xiaonan is a -162 favorite, but it’s Gadelha with an 8-6 picks lead.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Santos (72 percent), Boser (71 percent), Barcelos (83 percent), Allen (51 percent) and Gadelha (53 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.