UFC 283 predictions: Who are we picking in Brazil's two title fights?
| Teixeira
vs. Hill |
Figueiredo
vs. Moreno |
Burns
vs. Magny |
Andrade
vs. Murphy |
Craig
vs. Walker |
|
| George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge 4-1 |
Teixeira |
Moreno |
Burns |
Andrade |
Walker |
| Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun 2-3 |
Hill |
Figueiredo |
Burns |
Andrade |
Craig |
| Simon Samano
@SJSamano 2-3 |
Hill |
Moreno |
Burns |
Andrade |
Walker |
| Nolan King
@mma_kings 2-3/em> |
Teixeira |
Figueiredo |
Burns |
Andrade |
Craig |
| Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv 2-3 |
Teixeira |
Moreno |
Burns |
Andrade |
Walker |
| Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze 1-4 |
Teixeira |
Figueiredo |
Burns |
Andrade |
Walker |
The UFC is on the road for its first pay-per-view of the year, and a pair of title fights top the lineup in Brazil.
UFC 283 takes place Saturday at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC and early prelims on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, former light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira (33-8 MMA, 16-6 UFC) takes on Jamahal Hill (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for the belt that was vacated by Jiri Prochazka, who beat Teixeira to win the title in 2022.
Hill is a slight favorite at -140 at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on ex-champ Teixeira is +120 in front of his home-country fans. But Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Hill with the lead at 7-4 in the picks.
In the co-feature, flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (21-2-1 MMA, 10-2-1 UFC) takes on former champion and current interim titleholder Brandon Moreno (20-6-2 MMA, 8-3-2 UFC) for the fourth time with title unification at stake. Their series is knotted at 1-1-1. Moreno is a -125 favorite at the betting window, but it’s Figueiredo with the slimmest possible lead at 6-5 from our pickers.
Also on the main card, Gilbert Burns (20-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) takes on Neil Magny (27-9 MMA, 20-8 UFC) at welterweight. Burns is a heavy favorite at nearly 5-1 at the sportsbook, and he’s one of our two unanimous picks at 11-0. Magny only has been this big of a betting underdog one other time in his career, and that was his loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov in June 2022.
Our other unanimous pick is former women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (23-9 MMA, 14-7 UFC), who will be looking to keep her momentum at flyweight when she takes on Lauren Murphy (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC). Like Burns, Andrade is a -475 favorite in front of her home fans and she has a shutout in our picks at 11-0.
And to open the main card, comeback submission specialist Paul Craig (16-5-1 MMA, 8-5-1 UFC) meets Brazilian fan favorite Johnny Walker (19-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) at light heavyweight. Walker nearly is a 2-1 favorite and has a 7-4 lead in the picks.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Teixeira (59 percent), Moreno (67 percent), Burns (88 percent), Andrade (84 percent) and Craig (57 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 283.