UFC Fight Night 221 predictions: Petr Yan or Merab Dvalishvili in heated rivalry?

	Yan vs. Dvalishvili	Romanov vs. Volkov	Krylov vs. Spann	Lingo vs. Ramos	Martinez vs. Nurmagomedov	Petrino vs. Turkalj
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 23-14	Yan (56%)	Romanov (53%)	Spann (59%)	Ramos (75%)	Nurmagomedov (84%)	Petrino (71%)
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 27-13	Yan	Romanov	Krylov	Ramos	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Nolan King @mma_kings 26-14/em>	Yan	Volkov	Spann	Ramos	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Matt Erickson @MattE 26-14	Dvalishvili	Romanov	Spann	Ramos	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 26-14	Dvalishvili	Romanov	Spann	Lingo	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 25-15 2018, 2022 Champion	Yan	Romanov	Spann	Lingo	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 24-16	Yan	Romanov	Spann	Ramos	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 24-16	Yan	Volkov	Krylov	Ramos	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Simon Samano @SJSamano 24-16	Dvalishvili	Volkov	Krylov	Ramos	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 23-17 2014 Champion	Dvalishvili	Romanov	Spann	Ramos	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Brian Garcia @thegoze 22-18 2017 Champion	Yan	Romanov	Krylov	Ramos	Nurmagomedov	Petrino
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 22-18	Dvalishvili	Romanov	Spann	Lingo	Nurmagomedov	Petrino

The UFC stays in Las Vegas this week with a heated bantamweight rivalry atop the card.

UFC Fight Night 221 takes place Saturday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels 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, former bantamweight champion Petr Yan (16-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) takes on Merab Dvalishvili (15-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC). Yan is a -260 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Dvalishvili is +210. But it’s not a blowout. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Yan ahead by the smallest possible margin at 6-5.

In the co-feature, Alexandr Romanov (16-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) meets Alexander Volkov (35-10 MMA, 9-4 UFC) at heavyweight. Romanov is a slight favorite at -150, but he has a big 8-3 lead in the picks.

Also on the main card, Nikita Krylov (29-9 MMA, 10-7 UFC) takes on Ryan Spann (21-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in a fight rescheduled from two weeks ago when Krylov fell ill on fight day at UFC Fight Night 220. Krylov and Spann were set to headline that card. Krylov is a -170 favorite in the light heavyweight rebooted bout, but it’s Spann with a 7-4 picks lead.

Austin Lingo (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Ricardo Ramos (16-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) are set to tangle at featherweight. Ramos is the biggest favorite on the main card at -370 and he has a big 8-3 lead from our staff members.

Said Nurmagomedov (17-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is a -270 favorite against Jonathan Martinez (17-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) at bantamweight and is one of our two 11-0 unanimous picks on the main card.

And to open the main card, Vitor Petrino (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Anton Turkalj (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) have pick’em odds in their light heavyweight matchup. Despite that, Petrino is our second unanimous pick.

In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Yan (56 percent), Romanov (53 percent), Spann (59 percent), Ramos (75 percent), Nurmagomedov (84 percent) and Petrino 71 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 221.