{"id":858663,"date":"2026-08-15T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T05:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/858663\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T05:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T05:30:09","slug":"ufc-330-staff-picks-double-champ-makes-his-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/858663\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC 330 Staff Picks: Double Champ Makes His Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UFC 330 looms in Philadelphia. The MMA Sucka staff picks are in, so who did our staff select this weekend?\n<\/p>\n<p>Welterweights go to war in the main event of <a href=\"https:\/\/mmasucka.com\/..\/..\/ufc\/events\/ufc-330\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">UFC 330<\/a>, as all-time great Islam Makhachev defends his strap for the first time against Irish juggernaut Ian Machado Garry. In the second-to-last bout of the night, strawweight queen Mackenzie Dern puts her title on the line when she meets Gillian Robertson<\/p>\n<p>UFC 330 Main Event<\/p>\n<p>Achieving a landmark victory over Jack Della Maddalena last year to seize the 170-lb championship, <a href=\"https:\/\/mmasucka.com\/..\/..\/news\/when-hes-retired-islam-makhachev-roasts-daniel-cormier-over-dagestan-promises\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Makhachev<\/a> cemented his legacy as only the 11th competitor to become a two-weight UFC champion. Now on the cusp of attaining the longest win streak in company history, the man from Dagestan is looking to put on another masterclass in mixed martial arts.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a controversial image in the promotion, <a href=\"https:\/\/mmasucka.com\/..\/..\/news\/dana-white-claims-ian-machado-garry-is-being-overlooked-ahead-of-islam-makhachev-fight\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Garry<\/a> remains one of the best in his weight class, owning key wins over the likes of Geoff Neal, Carlos Prates, and Belal Muhammad. With his eyes fixated on the belt, \u201cThe Future\u201d is one mere triumph away from calling himself one of the greatest fighters on the planet.<\/p>\n<p>UFC 330 Co-Main Event<\/p>\n<p>Overcoming her fair share of hurdles during her rise to the top, <a href=\"https:\/\/mmasucka.com\/..\/..\/news\/mackenzie-dern-denies-having-issues-with-gillian-robertson-ive-never-even-met-her\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dern<\/a> defeated the talented Virna Jandiroba last October at UFC 321 to claim the 115-lb throne. A complete combatant who is deadly anywhere the bout goes, the multi-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion is eager to silence any doubters this weekend at UFC 330.<\/p>\n<p>Considered a standout grappler in the organization, <a href=\"https:\/\/mmasucka.com\/..\/..\/news\/gillian-robertson-eyes-unique-mma-record-with-win-over-mackenzie-dern-at-ufc-330\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Robertson<\/a> has beaten a laundry list of premier women\u2019s mixed martial artists, including Molly McCann, Marina Rodriguez, and Amanda Lemos. With all Canadian eyes locked on her as she makes her way to Philadelphia, \u201cSavage\u201d will stop at nothing to end the reign of Dern before it even has the chance to take off.<\/p>\n<p>More Bouts On the UFC 330 Main Card<\/p>\n<p>Rounding out the main card, lightweight finisher Jalin Turner and Kau\u00ea Fernandes lock horns. Then, Mansur Abdul-Malik\u00a0battles Dustin Stoltzfus. Finally, UFC legend Edson Barboza returns to collide with Esteban Ribovics.    <\/p>\n<p>UFC 330 Predictions and Staff Picks<\/p>\n<p>MMASucka staff picks are composed of four of the world\u2019s leading mixed martial arts organizations: the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufc.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ultimate Fighting Championship<\/a> (UFC), the <a href=\"https:\/\/pflmma.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Professional Fighters League<\/a> (PFL), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onefc.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ONE Championship<\/a> (ONE FC), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufc.com\/dwcs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dana White\u2019s Contender Series<\/a> (DWCS).<\/p>\n<p>UFC picks will include main card fights ranging from four to six matchups per event.<\/p>\n<p>PFL picks from main cards for both pay-per-views and regular events.<\/p>\n<p>ONE FC and DWCS picks will feature all MMA fights from the event with a minimum of three matchups.<\/p>\n<p>Staff picks in 2025 were won by Hank Strandberg with a record of 216-119.<\/p>\n<p>Find our UFC 330 picks and fight odds below.<\/p>\n<p>Staff records after UFC Vegas 120:<\/p>\n<p>1. Hank Strandberg: 139-60<\/p>\n<p>2. Frazer Krohn: 115-79<\/p>\n<p>3. Drew Zuhosky: 99-102<\/p>\n<p>4. Andrew Benjamin: 27-23<\/p>\n<p>*Note \u2013 not all staff pick for every event*<\/p>\n<p>Esteban Ribovics -700<br \/>\nVs.<br \/>\nEdson Barboza +505<br \/>\nLIGHTWEIGHT<\/p>\n<p>Hank Strandberg: Ribovics by Unanimous Decision<\/p>\n<p>Drew Zuhosky: Barboza by Unanimous Decision <\/p>\n<p>Frazer Kron: Ribovics by Unanimous Decision<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Ribovics: 2<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Barboza: 1  <\/p>\n<p>Mansur Abdul-Malik -650<br \/>\nVs.<br \/>\nDustin Stoltzfus +475<br \/>\nMIDDLEWEIGHT<\/p>\n<p>Hank Strandberg: Abdul-Malik by First Round Knockout<\/p>\n<p>Drew Zuhosky: Abdul-Malik by First Round Knockout <\/p>\n<p>Frazer Kron: Abdul-Malik by Second Round Knockout<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Abdul-Malik: 3<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Stoltzfus: 0  <\/p>\n<p>Jalin Turner -113<br \/>\nVs.<br \/>\nKaue Fernandes +107<br \/>\nLIGHTWEIGHT<\/p>\n<p>Hank Strandberg: Turner by Unanimous Decision<\/p>\n<p>Drew Zuhosky: Turner by Unanimous Decision<\/p>\n<p>Frazer Krohn: Fernandes by Second Round Knockout<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Turner: 2<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Fernandes: 1<\/p>\n<p>Mackenzie Dern -190<br \/>\nVs.<br \/>\nGillian Robertson +165<br \/>\nWOMEN\u2019S STRAWWEIGHT<\/p>\n<p>Hank Strandberg: Dern by Unanimous Decision<\/p>\n<p>Drew Zuhosky: Dern by Unanimous Decision <\/p>\n<p>Frazer Kron: Robertson by Fourth Round Knockout<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Dern: 2<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Robertson: 1<\/p>\n<p>Islam Makhachev -362<br \/>\nVs.<br \/>\nIan Machado Garry +290<br \/>\nWELTERWEIGHT<\/p>\n<p>Hank Strandberg: Makhachev by Unanimous Decision <\/p>\n<p>Drew Zuhosky: Garry by Unanimous Decision<\/p>\n<p>Frazer Kron: Makhachev by Unanimous Decision <\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Makhachev: 2<\/p>\n<p>Staff picking Garry: 1<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC 330 looms in Philadelphia. The MMA Sucka staff picks are in, so who did our staff select&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,115503,45596,23591,80311,638,82,640,269485,10092,254711],"class_list":["post-858663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-gillian-robertson","tag-ian-machado-garry","tag-islam-makhachev","tag-mackenzie-dern","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-330-makhachev-vs-machado-garry","tag-welterweight","tag-womens-strawweight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}