UFC 298 predictions: Who’s picking Ilia Topuria to take the title from Alexander Volkanovski?

The UFC is back in Southern California, and the featherweight title is on the line at the top of the bill.

UFC 298 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim for what is expected to be the first of three shows at the venue this year in a newly announced five-year deal with the arena.

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

Get pick results from our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers, as well as additional analysis, below.

Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov

Anthony Hernandez

Records: Hernandez (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC), Kopylov (12-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC)
Past five: Hernandez 4-1, Kopylov 4-1
Division: Middleweight
Rankings: None
Odds (as of 02.16.24): Hernandez -245, Kopylov +200
Junkie pick results: Hernandez 7, Kopylov 4

Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili

Merab Dvalishvili

Records: Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), Dvalishvili (16-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC)
Past five: Cejudo 4-1, Dvalishvili 5-0
Division: Bantamweight
Rankings: Dvalishvili No. 2, Cejudo No. 9
Odds (as of 02.16.24): Dvalishvili -240, Cejudo +195
Junkie pick results: Dvalishvili 7, Cejudo 4

Ian Machado Garry vs. Geoff Neal

Ian Machado Garry

Records: Garry (13-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), Neal (15-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC)
Past five: Garry 5-0, Neal 2-3
Division: Welterweight
Rankings: Neal No. 11, Garry No. 13
Odds (as of 02.16.24): Garry -230, Neal +190
Junkie pick results: Garry 7, Neal 4

Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker

Robert Whittaker

Records: Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), Whittaker (24-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC)
Past five: Costa 3-2, Whittaker 3-2
Division: Middleweight
Rankings: Whittaker No. 5, Costa No. 11
Odds (as of 02.16.24): Whittaker -240, Costa +195
Junkie pick results: Whittaker 9, Costa 2

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria

Alexander Volkanovski as “Old Man Volk”

Records: Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC), Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC)
Past five: Volkanovski 3-2, Topuria 5-0
Division: Featherweight
Rankings: Volkanovski No. 1, No. 3 pound-for-pound; Topuria No. 4
Odds (as of 02.16.24): Volkanovski -125, Topuria +105
Junkie pick results: Volkanovski 7, Topuria 4

Preliminary card picks

Mackenzie Dern

Although fights on the prelims don’t count toward the standings in the MMA Junkie staff picks, we still pick each fight. Here are some key results:

The featured prelim between Mackenzie Dern (13-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and Amanda Lemos (13-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is a close one at women’s strawweight. Lemos is just a -135 favorite, and she’s got the smallest possible picks lead at 6-5.

There are two unanimous picks on the prelims. The biggest favorite on the card, and one of the biggest UFC favorites in history at this number, is Rinya Nakamura (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who is around -1400 at the betting window against Carlos Vera (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Not surprisingly, Nakamura is an 11-0 pick from our staff members. And so is Miranda Maverick (12-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) in her event-opening women’s flyweight bout against Andrea Lee (13-8 MMA, 5-6 UFC).

Check out all the main card picks below.

UFC 298 main card picks

	Volkanovski vs. Topuria	Costa vs. Whittaker	Garry vs. Neal	Cejudo vs. Dvalishvili	Hernandez vs. Kopylov
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 11-10	Volkanovski (73%)	Whittaker (79%)	Garry (65%)	Dvalishvili (69%)	Kopylov (65%)
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 14-7	Volkanovski	Whittaker	Garry	Dvalishvili	Kopylov
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 14-7 2014 Champion	Volkanovski	Whittaker	Garry	Dvalishvili	Hernandez
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 14-7	Volkanovski	Whittaker	Garry	Cejudo	Hernandez
Nolan King @mma_kings 13-8 2023 Champion	Volkanovski	Whittaker	Neal	Dvalishvili	Hernandez
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 13-8	Topuria	Whittaker	Garry	Cejudo	Kopylov
Brian Garcia @thegoze 12-9 2017 Champion	Volkanovski	Whittaker	Garry	Cejudo	Hernandez
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 12-9	Topuria	Whittaker	Neal	Dvalishvili	Kopylov
Ken Hathaway @1khathaway 12-9 2018, 2022 Champion	Volkanovski	Costa	Garry	Dvalishvili	Hernandez
Simon Samano @SJSamano 11-10	Topuria	Whittaker	Garry	Dvalishvili	Hernandez
Matt Erickson @MattE 11-10	Topuria	Costa	Neal	Dvalishvili	Kopylov
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 8-13	Volkanovski	Whittaker	Neal	Cejudo	Hernandez

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.