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UFC 174 staff picks: On close card, Demetrious Johnson gets a unanimous nod

Demetrious Johnson is the heaviest favorite on Saturday’s UFC 174 card, and he’s of two fighters to get a unanimous nod from the MMAjunkie staff. One other came close on a highly competitive main card.

Johnson
vs.
Bagautinov
MacDonald
vs.
Woodley
Bader
vs.
Cavalcante
Arlovski
vs.
Schaub
Saint Preux
vs
Jimmo
Mike Bohn
@MikeBohnMMA
All-time picks: 71-35
JohnsonD
Johnson
Woodley
Woodley
Bader
Bader
Schaub
Schaub
StPreux
Saint Preux
Dann Stupp
@MMAjunkieDann
All-time picks: 70-36
JohnsonD
Johnson
Woodley
Woodley
Bader
Bader
Schaub
Schaub
StPreux
Saint Preux
Steven Marrocco
@MMAjunkieSteven
All-time picks: 68-38
JohnsonD
Johnson
MacDonald
MacDonald
Cavalcante
Cavalcante
Schaub
Schaub
StPreux
Saint Preux
Brian Garcia
@thegoze
All-time picks: 67-39
JohnsonD
Johnson
Woodley
Woodley
Bader
Bader
Schaub
Schaub
StPreux
Saint Preux
John Morgan
@MMAjunkieJohn
All-time picks: 67-39
JohnsonD
Johnson
Woodley
Woodley
Bader
Bader
Arlovski
Arlovski
StPreux
Saint Preux
Matt Erickson
@MMAjunkieMatt
All-time picks: 66-40
JohnsonD
Johnson
Woodley
Woodley
Bader
Bader
Schaub
Schaub
StPreux
Saint Preux
Ben Fowlkes
@benfowlkesMMA
All-time picks: 60-46
JohnsonD
Johnson
Woodley
Woodley
Cavalcante
Cavalcante
Arlovski
Arlovski
StPreux
Saint Preux
George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
All-time picks: 59-47
JohnsonD
Johnson
Woodley
Woodley
Bader
Bader
Arlovski
Arlovski
StPreux
Saint Preux

In the flyweight title headliner, champion Johnson (19-2-1 MMA, 7-1-1 UFC) is more than a 6-to-1 favorite against Ali Bagautinov (13-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC). All eight MMAjunkie writers and radio hosts believe he’ll defend his title for a fourth consecutive time. UFC 174 takes place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, and the main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.

In the co-main event, Rory MacDonald (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) may be fighting on home soil, but it’s Tyron Woodley (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) who has most of the support in our staff picks. Woodley gets the nod from seven of our eight pickers. Ovince Saint Preux (15-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC), meanwhile, got a unanimous slide in his main-card opener against Canada’s Ryan Jimmo (19-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC).

In a light heavyweight bout, Ryan Bader (16-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is getting the edge over former Strikeforce champion Rafael Cavalcante (12-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) with six votes of confidence. And former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (21-10 MMA, 10-4 UFC) is back for the first time since 2008, and three of the eight believe he’ll pull off the mild upset of Brendan Schaub (10-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC).

Check out the full picks above.

Additionally, leave your main-card picks below. As usual, MMAjunkie reader “IAMMA” is organizing the MMAjunkie Member Picks, where “Shut_The_Fitch_Up” is our leader.

For the latest on UFC 174, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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