Picking & Grinning: UFC on Fox 20 ‘Holm vs. Shevchenko’

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight titleholder Holly Holm will jump right back into the fire on the heels of her first professional mixed martial arts defeat.

A little more than four months after she was dethroned by a Miesha Tate rear-naked choke, Holm collides with Valentina Shevchenko in the five-round UFC on Fox 20 main event on Saturday at the United Center in Chicago. In the lightweight co-headliner, former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez returns from a PED-related suspension to confront Edson Barboza.

The rest of the four-fight main card features a heavyweight tilt slotting Francis Ngannou opposite Bojan Mihajlovic and a women’s strawweight clash pitting Felice Herrig against Kailin Curran.

Ahead of UFC on Fox 20, members of the Sherdog.com staff swallowed their pride and put their reputations on the line with bold predictions:

Standings

Mike Fridley (16-8)
Brian Knapp (15-9)
Jordan Breen (14-10)
Tristen Critchfield (14-10)
Mike Sloan (12-12)

The Lineup

Holly Holm vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Edson Barboza vs. Gilbert Melendez
Francis Ngannou vs. Bojan Mihajlovic
Felice Herrig vs. Kailin Curran
Frankie Saenz vs. Eddie Wineland
Darren Elkins vs. Godofredo Castro
Kamaru Usman vs. Alexander Yakovlev
Michel Richard Cunha dos Prazeres vs. J.C. Cottrell
Alex Oliveira vs. James Moontasri
Jim Alers vs. Jason Knight
Luis Henrique Barbosa de Oliveira vs. Dmitry Smoliakov

The Picks

Mike Fridley: Holm, Barboza, Ngannou, Curran, Saenz, Castro, Yakovlev, Prazeres, Oliveira, Alers, Smoliakov

Brian Knapp: Holm, Barboza, Ngannou, Curran, Saenz, Elkins, Usman, Cottrell, Oliveira, Alers, Smoliakov

Jordan Breen: Holm, Barboza, Ngannou, Curran, Saenz, Elkins, Usman, Prazeres, Oliveira, Alers, Smoliakov

Tristen Critchfield: Holm, Barboza, Ngannou, Curran, Saenz, Elkins, Usman, Prazeres, Oliveira, Alers, Smoliakov

Mike Sloan: Holm, Barboza, Ngannou, Herrig, Wineland, Elkins, Usman, Cottrell, Moontasri, Alers, Oliveira