| Brunson vs. Whittaker |
Holbrook vs. Matthews |
Akhmedov vs. Noke |
Kasuya vs. Volkanovski |
Pedro vs. Rountree |
Ham vs. Taylor |
|
| MMAjunkie readers’ consensus picks 2016: 117-69 (63%) |
 Brunson (57%) |
 Matthews (76%) |
 Noke (61%) |
 Volkanovski (77%) |
 Rountree (73%) |
 Ham (57%) |
| Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2016: 120-66 (65%) | Brunson |
Matthews |
Noke |
Volkanovski |
Rountree |
Ham |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2016: 117-69 (63%) |
Brunson |
Matthews |
 Akhmedov |
Volkanovski |
Rountree |
 Taylor |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2016: 116-70 (62%) |
 Whittaker |
Matthews |
Akhmedov |
Volkanovski |
Rountree |
Ham |
| Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven 2016: 115-71 (62%) |
Brunson |
Matthews |
Noke |
Volkanovski |
Rountree |
Ham |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2016: 113-73 (61%)  2014 Champion |
Whittaker |
Matthews |
Noke |
Volkanovski |
Rountree |
Ham |
| Brent Brookhouse @BrentBrookhouse 2016: 113-73 (61%) |
Brunson |
Matthews |
Akhmedov |
Volkanovski |
 Pedro |
Ham |
| Dann Stupp @DannStupp 2016: 113-73 (61%) 2015 Champion |
Whittaker |
Matthews |
Akhmedov |
Volkanovski |
Rountree |
Taylor |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2016: 111-75 (60%) |
Brunson |
Matthews |
Akhmedov |
Volkanovski |
Rountree |
Ham |
| Fernanda Prates @nandaprates_ 2016: 69-51 (58%) |
Brunson |
Matthews |
Akhmedov |
Volkanovski |
Rountree |
Ham |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2016: 106-80 (57%) |
Brunson |
Matthews |
Noke |
Volkanovski |
Pedro |
Taylor |
(This story was originally published on Nov. 25.)
The UFC is back in “The Land Down Under” as part of its busy stretch to close out the 2016 calendar year.
UFC Fight Night 101 takes place today (Sunday in Australia) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The event airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
In the main event, Derek Brunson (16-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) will attempt to continue his stellar middleweight run when he meets New Zealand’s Robert Whittaker (16-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC), an Australia resident. Brunson has five straight wins with four consecutive first-round knockouts. Whittaker has won five in a row, as well, as has two bonuses in that stretch.
Brunson is a -150 favorite with the oddsmakers, and our MMAjunkie editors, writers and radio hosts are backing him at a rate of 7-3.
The co-main event is a lightweight fight and one of two unanimious picks on the card. Australia’s Jake Matthews (10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is a 10-0 pick over Andrew Holbrook (11-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in the co-feature. He’s more than a 3-1 favorite in the fight – the heaviest piece of chalk on the card. The other unanimous nod is Australian featherweight UFC newcomer Alex Volkanovski (13-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) over Yusuke Kasuya (9-2-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
Also on the main card, Omari Akhmedov (15-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) is a 6-4 choice over Australia’s Kyle Noke (22-9-1 MMA, 6-5 UFC) in their welterweight fight. Khalil Rountree (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is an 8-2 pick over the debuting Tyson Pedro (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in their light heavyweight bout. And Seo Hee Ham (16-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is a 7-3 choice over Danielle Taylor (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in their women’s strawweight fight, which opens the main card.
In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Brunson, Matthews, Noke, Volkanovski, Rountree and Ham are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on UFC Fight Night 101, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
[sigallery id=”x5HesAYZLpW29kMubmcVhJ” title=”Derek Brunson” type=”sigallery”]
