This article is part of our UFC Picks series.
Make no mistake about it -- this rare Friday card is all about the long-anticipated return of Ronda Rousey to the Octagon. Rousey will be fighting for the first time in more than 13 months, and win or lose, you have to hand it to her, as she certainly isn't taking a tune-up fight. Amanda Nunes hits as hard as anyone in the division, and certainly won't be overwhelmed by the moment.Although this card lost a heavyweight title eliminator bout between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, UFC fans will still be treated to an excellent Bantamweight Championship between Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt. There is no shortage of bad blood here, as Garbrandt will come out swinging in search of the early KO, while Cruz will look to rely on the technique that's made him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
See how the RotoWire MMA Staff picks the two aforementioned fights, as well as the rest of the pay-per-view card, below.
If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's UFC 207 preview.
| MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | JON | EVAN | JAKE | RICHARD |
| Amanda Nunes (+120) vs. Ronda Rousey (-140) | Bantamweight | Nunes | Nunes | Nunes | |
| Cody Garbrandt (+180) vs. Dominick Cruz (-210) | Bantamweight | ||||
| John Lineker (+200) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (-230) | Bantamweight | Dillashaw | Dillashaw | Dillashaw | Dillashaw |
| Dong Hyun Kim (-140) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (+120) | Welterweight | Kim | Kim | Kim | |
| Louis Smolka (+110) vs. Ray Bord (-130) | Welterweight | Borg | Borg | ||
| RECORD | 2-3 | 3-2 | 3-2 | 4-1 | |
| OVERALL (since UFC 200) | 30-21 | 24-27 | 31-20 | 14-8 |
THE PLAYERS
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.
Evan Dahl: Pens our bi-weekly MMA Barometer column. Follow him on Twitter at @RealEvanDahl.
Jake Letarski: MMA and NCAA Hoops Senior Editor. Sirius XM contributor. Host of the RotoWire MMA Podcast, RotoWire Fantasy Football Podcast and RotoWire DFS Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JakeSki52.
Richard Mann: New to the RotoWire MMA staff, Richard is a stats-based analyst that has appeared on ESPN MMA via Fightmetric. He handles event recaps in our Fight Stat Wrap column, and maintains his own, data-driven MMA blog at StrikescoreMMA.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichardAMann
Strongly disagree with any of our picks? Let us know in the comments!
