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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Matt Erickson

UFC Fight Night 219 predictions: Who’s picking Jessica Andrade on short notice over Erin Blanchfield?

Andrade
vs.
Blanchfield
Pauga
vs.
Wright
Parisian
vs.
Pogues
Knight
vs.
Prachnio
Hernandez
vs.
Miller
MMA Junkie readers’
consensus picks
13-8

Blanchfield
(55%)

Pauga
(65%)

Parisian
(64%)

Knight
(64%)

Miller
(64%)
George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
16-5

Andrade

Pauga

Parisian

Knight

Miller
Matthew Wells
@MrMWells
15-6

Andrade

Pauga

Pogues

Knight

Miller
Matt Erickson
15-6

Andrade

Pauga

Pogues

Knight

Hernandez
Brian Garcia
@thegoze
14-7
2017 Champion

Andrade

Pauga

Parisian

Knight

Miller
Simon Samano
@SJSamano
13-8

Blanchfield

Pauga

Pogues

Knight

Miller
Ken Hathaway
@kenshathaway
12-9
2018, 2022 Champion

Blanchfield

Pauga

Parisian

Prachnio

Hernandez
Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv
12-9

Andrade

Pauga

Pogues

Knight

Miller
Nolan King
@mma_kings
11-10/em>

Blanchfield

Pauga

Pogues

Knight

Hernandez
Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun
11-10

Blanchfield

Pauga

Pogues

Knight

Miller
Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze
10-11

Andrade

Pauga

Parisian

Prachnio

Miller
Mike Bohn
@MikeBohn
10-11
2014 Champion

Andrade

Pauga

Pogues

Knight

Miller

The is back on its home turf this week, and a short-notice women’s flyweight bout tops the card.

UFC Fight Night 219 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex 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 women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (24-9 MMA, 15-7 UFC) takes on Erin Blanchfield (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at flyweight. Andrade took the fight on just a week’s notice when Taila Santos couldn’t travel with visa issues.

Andrade is slight favorite at -135 at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Blanchfield, who is fighting in her first UFC main event, is +115. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are siding with Andrade at a 7-4 clip.

In the co-feature, Zac Pauga (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) takes on Jordan Wright (12-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) at light heavyweight. Pauga is the biggest favorite on the main card at -280, and he’s our lone unanimous pick.

Also on the main card, Josh Parisian (15-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) meets Jamal Pogues (9-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at heavyweight. Pogues is a -250 favorite, but he has just a 7-4 lead in the picks from our staff members.

The closest fight on the entire card at the betting window is at light heavyweight between William Knight (11-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and Marcin Prachnio (15-6 MMA, 2-4 UFC). Knight is a -125 favorite, but he’s got a huge 9-2 lead in the picks.

And to open the main card, Alex Hernandez (13-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) takes on UFC record holder Jim Miller (35-16 MMA, 24-15 UFC) at lightweight. Hernandez is more than a 2-1 favorite, but it’s Miller who has a big 8-3 lead from our staff members.

In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Blanchfield (55 percent), Pauga (65 percent), Parisian (64 percent), Knight (64 percent) and Miller (64 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 219.

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