UFC 249 predictions: Ferguson or Gaethje, Cejudo or Cruz in title fights?

	Ferguson vs. Gaethje	Cejudo vs. Cruz	Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik	Kattar vs. Stephens	De Castro vs. Hardy
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 38-21	Ferguson (64%)	Cruz (57%)	Ngannou (78%)	Kattar (65%)	Hardy (57%)
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 45-14	Ferguson	Cruz	Ngannou	Kattar	Hardy
Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 44-15	Gaethje	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	Hardy
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 44-15	Ferguson	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	Hardy
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 43-16 2014 Champion	Ferguson	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	Hardy
Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 43-16 2019 Champion*	Ferguson	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	Hardy
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 43-16	Ferguson	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	Hardy
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 43-16	Gaethje	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	De Castro
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 43-16 2017 Champion	Gaethje	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	Hardy
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 42-17 2018 Champion	Gaethje	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	De Castro
Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 42-17	Ferguson	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	De Castro
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 41-18	Ferguson	Cejudo	Rozenstruik	Kattar	Hardy
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 40-19	Ferguson	Cejudo	Ngannou	Kattar	De Castro
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 35-24	Ferguson	Cruz	Ngannou	Stephens	Hardy
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 27-32	Gaethje	Cruz	Rozenstruik	Kattar	De Castro

The UFC is back this week after two months away in the coronavirus era with a pair of title fights atop the first of three shows in eight days in Florida.

UFC 249 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+. The event is closed to fans, but the fights still will take place and will be broadcast with essential personnel on site.

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

In the main event, Tony Ferguson (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC) takes on Justin Gaethje (21-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) for the interim lightweight title. Ferguson is favorite in the fight, and he’s got a decent 9-5 lead in the picks from our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts.

In the co-main event, bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) puts his belt on the line for the first time when he meets ex-champ Dominick Cruz (22-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC). Cejudo is roughly a 2-1 favorite from the oddsmakers, and only three of our 14 pickers are taking Cruz to pull off the upset.

Also on the main card, Francis Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) takes on Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in what likely is a No. 1 contender bout at heavyweight. Ngannou is a heavy favorite, and he’s got a big 12-2 lead in the picks.

Our one near-unanimous pick is featherweight Calvin Kattar (20-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC). He’s more than a 2-1 favorite against Jeremy Stephens (28-17 MMA, 15-16 UFC), and he’s got a 13-1 lead in the picks with only one picker taking Stephens in an upset.

And to open the main card, Yorgan De Castro (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will try to pull off an upset against 2-1 favorite Greg Hardy (5-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at heavyweight. Hardy has a 9-5 lead in the picks.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Ferguson (64 percent), Cruz (57 percent), Ngannou (78 percent), Kattar (65 percent) and Hardy (57 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.