UFC 267 has arrived. The MMA promotion is back on Fight Island for a jam-packed event that features two title fights and return of some of the top prospects and rising contenders in the world. It all goes down on Saturday, Oct. 30, from Abu Dhabi and will air live on ESPN+ for free with your subscription to the service in the early afternoon on the East Coast.
In the main event, Jan Blachowicz will make his second defense of the UFC light heavyweight championship when he takes on Glover Teixeira, who enters on a five-fight winning streak. Blachowicz is coming off an impressive win over middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in March.
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After losing the bantamweight title via disqualification, Petr Yan was originally scheduled to rematch Aljamain Sterling for the championship in the co-main event. However, lingering neck issues that required surgery after their first meeting forced Sterling out of the bout and allowed Cory Sandhagen to step in. Sandhagen and Yan will now battle for the interim title at 135 pounds in the rare title fight with both men coming off a loss after Sandhagen suffered a disputed decision defeat at the hands of former champ TJ Dillashaw in July.
There's also plenty of interesting fights filling out the undercard from Fight Island. Red-hot lightweight Islam Makhachev is back in a key battle with Dan Hooker. The Russian has won eight straight fights heading into this showdown with Hooker and hopes that a win can get him closer to a title shot. Plus, veteran heavyweights Alexander Volkov and Marcin Tybura are set to throwdown while light heavyweights Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir open the festivities.
With so much happening on Saturday night, let's take a closer look at the full fight card with the latest odds from Caesars Sportsbook before we get to our staff predictions and picks for the PPV portion of the festivities.
UFC 267 fight card, odds
- Jan Blachowicz (c) -300 vs. Glover Teixeira +240, light heavyweight championship
- Petr Yan -220 vs. Cory Sandhagen +180, interim bantamweight championship
- Islam Makhachev -625 vs. Dan Hooker +450, lightweight
- Alexander Volkov -300 vs. Marcin Tybura +240, heavyweight
- Khamzat Chimaev -575 vs. Li Jingliang +425, welterweight
- Magomed Ankalaev -310 vs. Volkan Oezdemir +250, light heavyweight
- Amanda Ribas -160 vs. Virna Jandiroba +135, women's strawweight
- Zubaira Tukhugov -170 vs. Ricardo Ramos +145, featherweight
- Albert Duraev -360 vs. Roman Kopylov +280, middleweight
- Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos -230 vs. Benoit Saint-Denis +190, welterweight
- Shamil Gamzatov -125 vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk +105, light heavyweight
- Lerone Murphy -310 vs. Makwan Amirkhani +250, featherweight
- Andre Petroski -230 vs. Yaozong Hu +190, light heavyweight
- Tagir Ulanbekhov -370 vs. Allan Nascimento +290, flyweight
With such a massive main event on tap, the crew at CBS Sports went ahead with predictions and picks for the main card. Here are your pick makers: Brent Brookhouse (Combat sports writer), Brian Campbell (Combat sports writer, co-host of "Morning Kombat"), Matthew Coca (producer), Jack Crosby (editor), Michael Mormile (producer) and Brandon Wise (senior editor).
UFC 267 picks, predictions
| Campbell | Brookhouse | Coca | Crosby | Mormile | Wise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blachowicz (c) vs. Teixeira | Blachowicz | Blachowicz | Blachowicz | Blachowicz | Blachowicz | Teixeira |
| Yan vs. Sandhagen | Sandhagen | Yan | Yan | Yan | Yan | Yan |
| Makhachev vs. Hooker | Makhachev | Makhachev | Makhachev | Makhachev | Makhachev | Makhachev |
| Volkov vs. Tybura | Volkov | Volkov | Volkov | Volkov | Volkov | Tybura |
| Chimaev vs. Jingliang | Jingliang | Chimaev | Chimaev | Chimaev | Chimaev | Chimaev |
| Ankalaev vs. Oezdemir | Ankalaev | Ankalaev | Ankalaev | Ankalaev | Ankalaev | Ankalaev |
| Records to date (2021) | 34-15 | 32-17 | 32-17 | 32-17 | 30-18 | 27-22 |
Campbell on why Blachowicz will win: The champion proved against Israel Adesanya in his first title defense just how high his fight IQ is by making the key adjustments to win a close decision. Blachowicz will need to rely on those same skills against an evolved and efficient Teixeira in a fight that could play out like a chess match. Teixeira is powerful on the feet and very capable of controlling the action on the ground. But it's the activity level of Blachowicz that needs to remain high in order to make sure he convinces the judges.
Wise on why Teixeira will win: Teixeira's journey to this unexpected second title shot is nothing short of remarkable. Add in that the Brazilian has balanced out his game with a strong boxing base to pair with his legendary ground attack and it feels like a perfect recipe for an upset. This line feels very inflated off of Blachowicz's win over Adesanya and while the Pol will have a striking advantage in power, Teixeira just needs to survive those flurries long enough to take this fight where he wants it. Look for this to turn into a dogfight late with it reaching the scorecards.
Brookhouse on why Blachowicz will win: Blachowicz is a vulnerable champion. While he has looked good lately, he has struggled in fights in the past. That said, Teixeira doesn't have a terrible style for Blachowicz's game. The champion can be smart and mix power with patience to pick Teixeira apart, break him down and find a way to either finish the fight or run away with the decision in the championship rounds.
Campbell on why Sandhagen will win: Although injuries have prevented both the current bantamweight champion (Aljamain Sterling) and the former 135-pound king (TJ Dillashaw) from fighting for the full title at UFC 267, Yan-Sandhagen might be the best matchup the division could produce. And with his length and grappling skills, Sandhagen might also be Yan's most difficult matchup on paper. Yan can certainly smash, and it's hard to find a weakness in his well-rounded game. Luckily for Sandhagen, most of what he does is unorthodox and hard to prepare for. Provided he can mix up his striking patterns and do enough damage to keep Yan honest, the opening might just be there for Sandhagen to pounce.
Brookhouse on why Yan will win: Sandhagen is a skilled fighter, but one with some obvious holes in his game. Yes, he's unorthodox and explosive, but he leaves defensive openings that open him up to get tagged often. Yan is the wrong guy to take 100 or more strikes from (Sandhagen was hit by 110 significant strikes from Dillashaw and 106 from John Lineker) and if Sandhagen finds himself mixing it up in prolonged exchanges, it's going to be a bad night for him.
Campbell on why Makhachev will win: Hooker's story of delaying his flight home to begin a long quarantine in New Zealand in favor of doubling down on his current momentum is an inspiring one. But Makhachev might be all kinds of wrong for a power move this large. For as much as Hooker showed from a wrestling standpoint in his much-needed September win over Nasrat Haqparast, he's going to need much more than that to have any of the same success against Makhachev. A childhood friend of former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev appears to be the goods in terms of acting as a successor to his retired friend from the standpoint of sustained dominance. Make no mistake, this is a step-up fight for Makhachev but it's one he can win by leaning into his strengths.
Wise on why Chimaev will win: There's plenty of uncertainty around this fight for Chimaev. Not only is he returning from a nasty battle with COVID-19 that saw him openly contemplate retirement, the virus took more than a year away from his career. Add in the fact that the first three wins of Chimaev's UFC career can be considered a bit random with a 17-second knockout included and this feels like the odds are not in the right place. Jingliang is an extremely tough out in the welterweight division who has a sturdy grappling base. My favorite play on this fight is over 1.5 rounds as we likely learn just how Chimaev's cardio was affected by COVID-19 and how Jingliang's chin holds up. Chimaev should be able to do enough to earn a decision or late stoppage with his overall pressure.
Who wins Blachowicz vs. Teixeira? And what other picks do you need to see for a parlay with a payout of better than 9-1? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed top picks on UFC 267, all from the insider who's up nearly $9,200 on MMA picks in the past year, and find out.
