Bellator 197 staff picks: Is anyone picking against Michael Chandler in his homecoming?

	Chandler vs. Girtz	Lawrence vs. McKee	Brock vs. Ferguson Jr.	Buckley vs. Storley
MMAjunkie readers’ consensus picks 2018: 33-23	Chandler (93%)	McKee (77%)	Ferguson Jr. (74%)	Storley (75%)
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2018: 35-21	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2018: 34-22	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2018: 33-23 2014 Champion	Chandler	McKee	Brock	Storley
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2018: 33-23	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven 2018: 32-24	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Fernanda Prates @nandaprates_ 2018: 31-25	Chandler	Lawrence	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2018: 31-25 2016 Champion	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Dann Stupp @DannStupp 2018: 31-25 2015 Champion	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Trent Reinsmith @TrentReinsmith 2018: 31-25	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2018: 29-27	Chandler	McKee	Brock	Storley
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2018: 29-27	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2018: 27-29	Chandler	McKee	Brock	Storley
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2018: 26-30 2017 Champion	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2018: 25-31	Chandler	McKee	Ferguson Jr.	Storley

The card lost a title fight not long ago, but Bellator still has a solid offering for its return to the St. Louis area this week.

Bellator 197 takes place Friday at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., near St. Louis. The main card airs on Paramount following prelims on MMAjunkie.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, former lightweight champion Michael Chandler (17-4 MMA, 14-4 BMMA) was supposed to take on champ Brent Primus for a chance to win the title back. But Primus pulled out with an injury, and that left Brandon Girtz (15-7 MMA, 7-5 BMMA) as a relatively short-notice replacement. Chandler, fighting in front of his home-area fans, is a heavy favorite, one of two unanimous picks on the card from our 14 MMAjunkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers.

In the co-feature, A.J. McKee (10-0 MMA, 10-0 BMMA) takes on St. Louis-area native Justin Lawrence (11-4 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) at featherweight. And McKee is a near-unanimous pick to stay unbeaten. Only one of our pickers is taking Lawrence in the fight.

Also on the main card, Kevin Ferguson Jr. (2-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) is an 11-3 pick over Devon Brock (1-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in their 160-pound catchweight fight. And to open the card, our other unanimous pick is Logan Storley (7-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) at 14-0 over Joaquin Buckley (8-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) in their welterweight bout.

In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Chandler, McKee, Ferguson Jr. and Storley are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on Bellator 197, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.