UFC 214 main card picks — VIDEO | MMA UFC

A breakdown of the fights on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 214 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, with picks from the Review-Journal’s Adam Hill and Heidi Fang.

Daniel Cormier (19-1) vs. Jon Jones (22-1)

■ Class: For Cormier’s light heavyweight title

■ Line: Jones -270

■ Storyline: Not only is this one of the best rivalries in UFC history, it is also a matchup of two of the best fighters ever to step in the cage. Jones handed Cormier the lone loss of his career in January 2015, but Cormier claimed the title after Jones was stripped for his involvement in a hit-and-run accident. His time as champion may have provided Cormier enough confidence to believe he can beat the man generally considered to be the best fighter in history. Cormier also has the advantage in activity. Jones has competed just once since their first fight due to a pair of lengthy suspensions. Will those factors be enough to overcome the difference in ability that was evident in the first meeting? Cormier certainly hopes so. Jones, however, appears to be in phenomenal shape and in his athletic prime while Cormier is now two years older than when they fought the first time. Cormier, an Olympic wrestler, certainly can’t afford to lose the takedown battle as he did in the first meeting. Otherwise, Jones will cruise.

■ Hill’s Pick: Jones by decision

■ Fang’s Pick: Jones by third-round submission

Tyron Woodley (16-3-1) vs. Demian Maia (25-6)

■ Class: For Woodley’s welterweight title

■ Line: Woodley -200

■ Storyline: A fascinating matchup that is a bit of a throwback to the reason mixed martial arts came into existence. Maia may very well be the best pure jiu-jitsu practitioner in the entire organization. If he’s able to get the fight to the ground, he can finally become a UFC champion at 39 years old. But how will he be able to do that. Maia generally drags his opponents to the ground, almost willing it to happen at times. That won’t work against Woodley, an elite collegiate wrestler with a ton of power. Maia will need to get creative in his approach to getting the fight to his comfort zone. Woodley will be at a big advantage if he can use his wrestling to just keep the fight standing.

■ Hill’s Pick: Woodley by second-round knockout

■ Fang’s Pick: Maia by fourth-round submission

Cris “Cyborg” Justino (16-1, 1 No Contest) vs. Tonya Evinger (19-5)

■ Class: For vacant women’s featherweight title

■ Line: Justino -1200

■ Storyline: A showcase bout for Justino who has probably been the best female fighter in the world for the last decade. She’s now getting her chance to fight for a UFC title because her weight classification has been added to the organization. Justino has immense power that has overwhelmed nearly every one of her opponents. Opponents often appear hesitant to even engage with her in the cage. Evinger won’t be intimidated. She is a durable veteran with the kind of confidence and toughness required to give Justino a fight. Evinger is also a wrestler who will almost certainly shoot for takedowns early and try to control position. She is likely to put up a better challenge than expected, though Justino may just be too much in the end.

■ Hill’s Pick: Justino by third-round knockout

■ Fang’s Pick: Justino by second-round knockout

Robbie Lawler (27-11, 1 No Contest) vs. Donald Cerrone (32-8, 1 No Contest)

■ Class: Welterweight

■ Line: Lawler -160

■ Storyline: There shouldn’t be a whole lot of mystery in this fight. Cerrone prefers to just walk to the center of the cage and start launching punches and kicks. Lawler isn’t likely to back down. The former welterweight champion at least has some inclination to defend and implement a game plan, though that could quickly go out the window if Cerrone draws him into the slugfest he prefers. Lawler has been out nearly a year since losing the title and has to be itching to get back into contention. An impressive win could certainly put him in that conversation again..

■ Hill’s Pick: Lawler by second-round knockout

■ Fang’s Pick: Lawler by decision

Jimi Manuwa (17-2) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (14-1)

■ Class: Light heavyweight

■ Line: Manuwa -180

■ Storyline: Manuwa has been on a nice run and actually got placed on this card just in case Cormier or Jones once again had to pull out of their fight and a replacement was needed. He has all kinds of power and is dangerous with every strike he throws. Oezdemir has burst onto the scene with a pair of victories over ranked opponents to place himself within another impressive win or two of a possible title shot himself. Manuwa is a rightful favorite, but even though he insists he never thought about the chance he might be called upon to step into the main event, it had to be at least a bit of a distraction. Oezdemir showed his power with a 28-second knockout of Misha Cirkunov in May. He won’t back down from Manuwa.

■ Hill’s Pick: Oezdemir by first-round knockout

■ Fang’s Pick: Manuwa by third-round knockout

More MMA: Follow all of our MMA and UFC coverage online at CoveringTheCage.com and @CoveringTheCage on Twitter.