Picking & Grinning: UFC 205 ‘Alvarez vs. McGregor’

Champion-versus-champion showdowns have become rare occurrences in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Eddie Alvarez will defend his lightweight crown against featherweight titleholder Conor McGregor in the UFC 205 headliner on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Two other title fights will help shoulder the marquee, as welterweight champion Tyron Woodley locks horns with Stephen Thompson and women’s strawweight titleholder Joanna Jedrzejczyk squares off with Karolina Kowalkiewicz. The rest of the five-fight main card features a middleweight clash pairing Chris Weidman with Yoel Romero and a women’s bantamweight encounter pitting Miesha Tate against Raquel Pennington.

Ahead of UFC 205 “Alvarez vs. McGregor” members of the Sherdog.com staff swallowed their pride and put their reputations on the line with bold predictions:

STANDINGS

Jordan Breen (101-58-3)
Tristen Critchfield (101-58-3)
Mike Fridley (97-62-3)
Brian Knapp (95-64-3)
Mike Sloan (93-66-3)

THE LINEUP

155: Eddie Alvarez (28-4) vs. Conor McGregor (20-3)
170: Tyron Woodley (16-3) vs. Stephen Thompson (13-1)
115: Joanna Jedrzejczyk (12-0) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-0)
185: Chris Weidman (13-1) vs. Yoel Romero (11-1)
135: Miesha Tate (18-6) vs. Raquel Pennington (8-5)
145: Frankie Edgar (20-5-1) vs. Jeremy Stephens (25-12)
155: Khabib Nurmagomedov (23-0) vs. Michael Johnson (17-10)
185: Rafael Natal (21-7-1) vs. Tim Boetsch (19-10)
170: Vicente Luque (10-5-1) vs. Belal Muhammad (10-1)
155: Jim Miller (27-8) vs. Thiago Alves (21-10)
135: Liz Carmouche (10-5) vs. Katlyn Chookagian (8-0)

THE PICKS

Jordan Breen: McGregor, Woodley, Jedrzejczyk, Weidman, Tate, Edgar, Nurmagomedov, Natal, Muhammad, Alves, Chookagian

Tristen Critchfield: McGregor, Thompson, Jedrzejczyk, Romero, Tate, Edgar, Nurmagomedov, Natal, Muhammad, Miller, Chookagian

Mike Fridley: Alvarez, Thompson, Jedrzejczyk, Romero, Pennington, Edgar, Nurmagomedov, Natal, Muhammad, Miller, Chookagian

Brian Knapp: McGregor, Thompson, Jedrzejczyk, Weidman, Tate, Edgar, Nurmagomedov, Boetsch, Muhammad, Alves, Chookagian

Mike Sloan: Alvarez, Thompson, Jedrzejczyk, Weidman, Tate, Edgar, Nurmagomedov, Natal, Muhammad, Miller, Chookagian