RotoWire MMA Expert Picks: UFC 290 Main Card

The UFC 290 expert picks are officially in. Check out how the RotoWire team of MMA contributors envisions every fight going down on Saturday's pay-per-view card.
RotoWire MMA Expert Picks: UFC 290 Main Card
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Two title fights cap off Saturday's International Fight Week, headlined by a featherweight unification bout between recent champion Alexander Volkanovski and interim champion Yair Rodriguez.

As a reminder, the following selections are purely picks. If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights, check out the MMA Mashup from Chris Olson or our DraftKings UFC 290 preview courtesy of Jon Litterine. We also have a MMA DFS Lineup Optimizer to try if you're looking to try out different combinations of fighters or generate multiple lineups.

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 

CLASS

JONJAKECHRIS
(C) Alexander Volkanovski (-400) vs.
(IC) Yair Rodriguez (+300)

Featherweight
Championship

VolkanovskiVolkanovskiVolkanovski
(C) Brandon Moreno (-195) vs.
Alexandre Pantoja (+165)

Flyweight
Championship

MorenoPantojaMoreno
Robert Whittaker (-410) vs.
Dricus Du Plessis (+310)

Middleweight

WhittakerWhittakerWhittaker
Jalin Turner (-250) vs.
Dan Hooker (+210)

Lightweight

TurnerTurnerTurner
Bo Nickal (-2500) vs.
Val Woodburn (+1100)

Middleweight

NickalNickalNickal
 

 

   
     
UFC 290 RECORD 2-33-22-3
2023 RECORD 23-1724-1621-19
2023 PERCENTAGE .575.600.525
2022 RECORD 34-2740-2125-26
2022 PERCENTAGE .557.656.490
2021 RECORD 35-2842-2137-26
2021 PERCENTAGE .556.667.586
2020 RECORD 36-1834-2028-26
2020 PERCENTAGE .667.630.519
2019 RECORD 39-1935-2332-26
2019 PERCENTAGE .672.603.552
ALL-TIME  262-171272-161 214-170
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .605.628.557

 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 
CLASS

JOE

"SUNTZU"

SHAUN 
"TheDFSniper"

(C) Alexander Volkanovski (-400) vs.
(IC) Yair Rodriguez (+300)

Featherweight
Championship

VolkanovskiVolkanovski
(C) Brandon Moreno (-195) vs.
Alexandre Pantoja (+165)

Flyweight
Championship

PantojaPantoja
Robert Whittaker (-410) vs.
Dricus Du Plessis (+310)

Middleweight

WhittakerWhittaker
Jalin Turner (-250) vs.
Dan Hooker (+210)

Lightweight

TurnerTurner
Bo Nickal (-2500) vs.
Val Woodburn (+1100)

Middleweight

NickalNickal
 

 

  
    
UFC 290 RECORD 3-23-2
2023 RECORD 24-1625-15
2023 PERCENTAGE .600.625
2022 RECORD 38-2339-22
2022 PERCENTAGE .623.639
2021 RECORD 38-2536-27
2021 PERCENTAGE .603.571
2020 RECORD 36-1838-16
2020 PERCENTAGE .667.704
2019 RECORD 34-2434-24
2019 PERCENTAGE .586.586
ALL-TIME 207-125202-120
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .623.627

 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 
CLASS

COLE     

DRAKE

(C) Alexander Volkanovski (-400) vs.
(IC) Yair Rodriguez (+300)

Featherweight
Championship

VolkanovskiVolkanovski
(C) Brandon Moreno (-195) vs.
Alexandre Pantoja (+165)

Flyweight
Championship

MorenoPantoja
Robert Whittaker (-410) vs.
Dricus Du Plessis (+310)

Middleweight

WhittakerDu Plessis
Jalin Turner (-250) vs.
Dan Hooker (+210)

Lightweight

TurnerTurner
Bo Nickal (-2500) vs.
Val Woodburn (+1100)

Middleweight

NickalNickal
 

 

  
    
UFC 290 RECORD 2-34-1
2023 RECORD 25-1522-18
2023 PERCENTAGE .625.550
2022 RECORD 39-2239-22
2022 PERCENTAGE .639.639
2021 RECORD 43-2117-14
2021 PERCENTAGE .672.548
2020 RECORD N/AN/A
2020 PERCENTAGE N/AN/A
2019 RECORD N/AN/A
2019 PERCENTAGE N/AN/A
ALL-TIME 104-5678-54
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .650.591

THE PICKERS

Jon Litterine: RotoWire lead MMA beat writer and scribe for our weekly DrafKings preview. Lead analyst on the RotoWire MMA Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JonLitterine.

Jake Letarski: RotoWire.com Operations Manager, plus MMA and NCAA Hoops Senior Editor. Host on the RotoWire MMA Podcast and guest on the RotoWire Fantasy Football Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @RotoJake.

Chris Olson: Contributor at RotoWire to "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," as well as The MMA Mashup, DFS Baseball, a MMA gambling columnist and fight recaps. Follow him on Twitter at @RealChrisOlson.

Joe "SunTszu": Known more commonly by his Twitter handle @SunTszu, Joe is a Hedge Fund Executive by day and high-volume DFS player by night. He is a 2x "Bracket Challenge" & "Gotham qualifier. You can also find him as one of the original contributors of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He is also a co-creator of the "Creating Alpha in DFS" podcast.

@theDFSniper: @theDFSniper is the host and lead instigator of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He also appears on the LoudMouth MMA podcast and contributes soccer content to DFS Army.

Cole Shelton: Cole Shelton is a full-time sports writer focusing on MMA. His work has appeared on BJPenn.com, CBC Sports, Sports Betting Dime and Blue Jays Nation. He currently pens the MMA Best Bets column on RotoWire. Follow him on Twitter at @ColeShelton91.

Drake Burden: Drake is a proven DFS winner with multiple four-figure paydays under his belt. He took an interest to writing MMA during the pandemic and is active in various Discords and other social media communities. Follow him on Twitter at @DBurdz.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RotoWire Editor for College Basketball and MMA. Frequent podcaster, plus radio and video guest. Follow Jake on Twitter at @RotoJake.
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