A pair of strawweight mainstays will clash at Saturday's UFC event in Las Vegas, as Marina Rodriguez meets Amanda Lemos in a pivotal five-round headliner. Check out our Rodriguez-Lemos picks ahead of the bill's main event.
This battle of Brazilians could determine the challenger-in-waiting to the strawweight crown ahead of Carla Esparza's title defense against Weili Zhang at next week's UFC 281, as both fighters are coming off solid wins.
The streaking Rodriguez heads to Vegas on a four- fight win streak and was last seen edging Yan Xiaonan by split decision at UFC 272 in March. Lemos most recently rebounded from a loss to Jessica Andrade with a second-round tap out of Michelle Waterson in July. The former meets her fellow Brazilian with a promotional record of 6-1-2, with the latter boasting six wins and four stoppages in eight UFC showings.
Here are my Rodriguez-Lemos picks and predictions for Saturday's marquee matchup (odds via Caesars Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook; pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).