| Okami vs. Saint Preux |
Andrade vs. Gadelha |
Gomi vs. Kim |
da Silva vs. Saki |
Dy vs. Ishihara |
Hirota vs. Rosa |
|
| MMAjunkie readers’ consensus picks 2017: 87-65 |
 Saint Preux (74%) |
 Gadelha (80%) |
 Kim (77%) |
 Saki (56%) |
 Ishihara (78%) |
 Rosa (76%) |
| Dann Stupp @DannStupp 2017: 97-55  2015 Champion |
Saint Preux |
Gadelha |
Kim |
 da Silva |
Ishihara |
Rosa |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2017: 95-57 |
Saint Preux |
 Andrade |
Kim |
Saki |
Ishihara |
Rosa |
| Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2017: 94-58 2016 Champion |
Saint Preux |
Gadelha |
Kim |
Saki |
Ishihara |
Rosa |
| Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven 2017: 93-59 |
Saint Preux |
Gadelha |
Kim |
Saki |
Ishihara |
Rosa |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2017: 92-60 |
Saint Preux |
Gadelha |
Kim |
Saki |
Ishihara |
Rosa |
| Fernanda Prates @nandaprates_ 2017: 89-63 |
Saint Preux |
Gadelha |
Kim |
Saki |
Ishihara |
 Hirota |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2017: 89-63 |
 Okami |
Gadelha |
 Gomi |
Saki |
 Dy |
Hirota |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2017: 87-65 |
Saint Preux |
Gadelha |
Kim |
Saki |
Ishihara |
Rosa |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2017: 87-65 2014 Champion |
Saint Preux |
Gadelha |
Kim |
da Silva |
Ishihara |
Rosa |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2017: 86-66 |
Saint Preux |
Andrade |
Kim |
da Silva |
Ishihara |
Rosa |
The UFC returns to Japan this week, and a former middleweight title challenger is back in the promotion in the main event on short notice.
UFC Fight Night 117 takes place Friday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, near Tokyo. The card airs on FXX following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, former 185-pound title challenger Yushin Okami (34-10 MMA, 13-5 UFC) returns after a stint in WSOF to fight Ovince Saint Preux (20-10 MMA, 8-5) at light heavyweight. Okami, who will fight in front of his home fans in Japan, took the fight on a week’s notice when Mauricio “Shogun” Rua withdrew with an injury. Saint Preux is a heavy betting favorite, and he’s the pick of nine of our 10 MMAjunkie editors, writers and radio hosts.
In the co-feature, women’s strawweight contenders Jessica Andrade (16-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) and Claudia Gadelha (15-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) meet in a crucial divisional showdown. Gadelha is the betting favorite, and she’s getting the nod from eight of our 10 pickers.
Also on the main card, Takanori Gomi (35-13 MMA, 4-8 UFC) meets ”Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim (14-8-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at lightweight, and only one of our staff members is brave enough to pick Gomi in an upset. Gokhan Saki (0-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his highly anticipated UFC debut against Henrique da Silva (12-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and is a 7-3 pick. Only one of our pickers is taking Rolando Dy (8-5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) to top Teruto Ishihara (9-4-2 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) in their featherweight bout. And also at featherweight, to open up the main card, only two are taking Mizuto Hirota (18-8-2 MMA, 1-3-1 UFC) to upset Charles Rosa (11-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in their catchweight fight (Hirota missed the featherweight limit earlier today).
In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Saint Preux, Gadelha, Kim, Saki, Ishihara and Rosa are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on UFC Fight Night 117, visit the UFC Rumors section of the site.
Filed under: Featured, News, UFC