Picking & Grinning: UFC Fight Night ‘Rodriguez vs. Penn’

Yair Rodriguez wants to use B.J. Penn as a steppingstone.

Rodriguez will meet the former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder in the UFC Fight Night 103 main event on Sunday at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix. Meanwhile, “The Ultimate Fighter 5” graduate Joe Lauzon takes on Bellator MMA veteran Marcin Held in the three-round co-headliner at 155 pounds. The rest of the four-fight main draw features a welterweight clash pitting Court McGee against Ben Saunders and a flyweight tilt pairing Sergio Pettis with John Moraga.

Ahead of UFC Fight Night “Rodriguez vs. Penn,” Sherdog.com staff members and contributors swallowed their pride and put their reputations on the line with bold predictions:

THE LINEUP

145: Yair Rodriguez (9-1) vs. B.J. Penn (16-10-2)
155: Joe Lauzon (26-12) vs. Marcin Held (22-5)
170: Court McGee (18-5) vs. Ben Saunders (20-7-2)
125: Sergio Pettis (14-2) vs. John Moraga (16-5)
135: Frankie Saenz (11-4) vs. Augusto Mendes (5-1)
265: Alexey Oleynik (50-10-1) vs. Viktor Pesta (10-3)
155: Alex White (11-2) vs. Tony Martin (10-3)
265: Walt Harris (8-5) vs. Chase Sherman (9-2)
115: Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (6-3) vs. Nina Ansaroff (6-5)
155: Devin Powell (8-1) vs. Drakkar Klose (6-0-1)
205: Joachim Christensen (13-4) vs. Bohan Mihajlovic (10-4)
265: Dmitri Smoliakov (8-1) vs. Cyril Asker (7-2)

2016 STANDINGS

Tristen Critchfield: 170-95-4
Jordan Breen: 168-97-4
Mike Sloan: 162-103-4
Brian Knapp: 161-104-4
Mike Fridley: 151-114-4
Eric Stinton: N/A
Connor Ruebusch: N/A
Todd Martin: N/A

THE PICKS

Tristen Critchfield: Rodriguez, Lauzon, Saunders, Pettis, Saenz, Oleynik, Martin, Harris, Ansaroff, Klose, Christensen, Smoliakov

Jordan Breen: Rodriguez, Lauzon, Saunders, Moraga, Saenz, Oleynik, Martin, Harris, Jones-Lybarger, Klose, Christensen, Asker

Mike Sloan: Rodriguez, Held, Saunders, Pettis, Mendes, Pesta, Martin, Sherman, Jones-Lybarger, Klose, Christensen, Smoliakov

Brian Knapp: Rodriguez, Lauzon, Saunders, Moraga, Saenz, Oleynik, Martin, Sherman, Ansaroff, Klose, Christensen, Smoliakov

Mike Fridley: Penn, Lauzon, McGee, Pettis, Saenz, Oleynik, Martin, Harris, Jones-Lybarger, Powell, Mihajlovic, Smoliakov

Eric Stinton: Penn, Lauzon, Saunders, Pettis, Saenz, Oleynik, White, Sherman, Ansaroff, Powell, Christensen, Smoliakov

Connor Ruebusch: Rodriguez, Lauzon, Saunders, Pettis, Saenz, Oleynik, White, Harris, Ansaroff, Klose, Christensen, Smoliakov

Todd Martin: Rodriguez, Lauzon, McGee, Moraga, Saenz, Oleynik, Martin, Sherman, Jones-Lybarger, Klose, Christensen, Smoliakov