UFC Fight Night 119 staff picks: Who's taking Lyoto Machida to win after 28 months off?

	Machida vs. Brunson	Covington vs. Maia	Font vs. Munhoz	Miller vs. Trinaldo	Hermansson vs. Santos	Lineker vs. Vera
MMAjunkie readers’ consensus picks 2017: 97-67	Machida (54%)	Maia (77%)	Font (68%)	Trinaldo (53%)	Santos (60%)	Lineker (86%)
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2017: 104-60	Brunson	Covington	Munhoz	Trinaldo	Hermansson	Vera
Dann Stupp @DannStupp 2017: 104-60 2015 Champion	Brunson	Maia	Font	Miller	Hermansson	Lineker
Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2017: 103-61 2016 Champion	Brunson	Covington	Font	Miller	Hermansson	Lineker
Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven 2017: 101-63	Brunson	Covington	Munhoz	Trinaldo	Hermansson	Lineker
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2017: 99-65	Brunson	Covington	Font	Trinaldo	Santos	Vera
Fernanda Prates @nandaprates_ 2017: 97-67	Brunson	Maia	Munhoz	Miller	Hermansson	Lineker
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2017: 96-68	Brunson	Covington	Font	Miller	Hermansson	Vera
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2017: 95-69	Machida	Covington	Font	Miller	Santos	Vera
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2017: 95-69	Brunson	Covington	Font	Miller	Hermansson	Vera
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2017: 94-70 2014 Champion	Machida	Maia	Font	Miller	Santos	Lineker

The UFC is back in Brazil this week, and a former champion returns after a lengthy layoff.

UFC Fight Night 119 takes place Saturday at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo. The main card airs on FS1 following prelims on FS2 and UFC Fight Pass.

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

In the main event, former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida (22-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) is back after more than two years away thanks in part to an 18-month suspension. He takes on Derek Brunson (17-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) at middleweight, and the American is a -160 favorite. Brunson also is the pick of eight of our 10 MMAjunkie editors, writers and radio hosts, making him our heaviest staff favorite.

In the co-feature, Colby Covington (12-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) takes on Demian Maia (25-7 MMA, 19-7 UFC) at welterweight. Covington is a slight favorite over the recent title challenger and has seven of 10 picks going his way.

Also on the main card,Rob Font (14-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is a 7-3 choice over Pedro Munhoz (14-2-1 MMA, 4-2-1 UFC) in their bantamweight fight. Jim Miller (28-10 MMA, 17-9 UFC) has six of 10 pickers taking him to upset Francisco Trinaldo (21-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in their lightweight bout.

Jack Hermansson (16-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is a 7-3 pick over Thiago “Marreta” Santos (15-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC) at middleweight. And to open the main card, John Lineker (29-8 MMA, 10-3 UFC) is more than a 3-1 favorite against Marlon Vera (10-3-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC), but our picks are split right down the middle at 5-5.

In the MMAjunkie reader consensus picks, Machida, Maia, Font, Trinaldo, Santos and Lineker are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on UFC Fight Night 119, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.