UFC on ESPN 39 predictions: Which Rafael – Fiziev, or ex-champ dos Anjos?

	Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev	Borralho vs. Petrosyan	Nurmagomedov vs. Silva de Andrade	Sherman vs. Vanderaa	Calvillo vs. Nunes	Johnson vs. Mullarkey
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 114-61	Fiziev (64%)	Borralho (70%)	Nurmagomedov (86%)	Vanderaa (65%)	Calvillo (65%)	Johnson (50.1%)
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 120-60 2018 Champion	Fiziev	Petrosyan	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Nunes	Mullarkey
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 117-63	Dos Anjos	Borralho	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Calvillo	Johnson
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 117-63 2014 Champion	Dos Anjos	Borralho	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Calvillo	Johnson
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 114-66	Fiziev	Borralho	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Calvillo	Johnson
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 113-67	Fiziev	Borralho	Nurmagomedov	Sherman	Calvillo	Johnson
Simon Samano @SJSamano 113-67	Fiziev	Borralho	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Nunes	Johnson
Nolan King @mma_kings 108-72	Fiziev	Petrosyan	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Calvillo	Johnson
Brian Garcia @thegoze 108-72 2017 Champion	Dos Anjos	Petrosyan	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Calvillo	Johnson
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 107-73	Fiziev	Borralho	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Calvillo	Johnson
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 101-79	Dos Anjos	Borralho	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Calvillo	Johnson
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 87-93	Dos Anjos	Borralho	Nurmagomedov	Vanderaa	Nunes	Johnson

The UFC stays home in Las Vegas for a Fight Night with a former lightweight champion at the top of the card.

UFC on ESPN 39 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.

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

In the main event, former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos (31-13 MMA, 20-11 UFC) takes on rising standout Rafael Fiziev (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC). Fiziev is a -230 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on dos Anjos is +175. But it’s a close one with our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers, who have Fiziev with a narrow 6-5 lead in the picks.

In the middleweight co-feature, Caio Borralho (11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is a -250 favorite against Armen Petrosyan (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC). Borralho has a big lead in the picks at 8-3.

Also on the main card, Said Nurmagomedov (15-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is the second biggest favorite on the entire event. He’s a -350 favorite in his bantamweight bout against Douglas Silva de Andrade (28-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC), and he’s the lone unanimous pick on the main card.

Chase Sherman (15-10 MMA, 3-9 UFC) takes on Jared Vanderaa (12-8 MMA, 1-4 UFC) in a bout between a pair of heavyweights who are a combined 4-13 in the UFC. Vanderra is more than a 2-1 favorite and a near-unanimous pick at 10-1.

Cynthia Calvillo (9-4-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) and Nina Nunes (10-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) in a women’s flyweight bout in which each needs to get back on track. Calvillo has lost three straight; Nunes has dropped back-to-back fights. Calvillo is a slight favorite at -155, and she’s got a big 8-3 lead in the picks from our staff members.

And to open the main card, Michael Johnson (20-17 MMA, 12-13 UFC) takes on Jamie Mullarkey (14-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at lightweight. Although Mullarkey is a fairly significant favorite at -240, our pickers are backing underdog Johnson near unanimously at 10-1.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Fiziev (64 percent), Borralho (70 percent), Nurmagomedov (86 percent), Vanderaa (65 percent), Calvillo (65 percent) and Johnson (50.1 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.