Who’s going to win today’s Super Bowl, the Denver Broncos or Carolina Panthers? UFC fighters make their picks, including last night’s headliners Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson.
Today is the historic 50th Super Bowl from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, which is nowhere near San Francisco but is nonetheless the home of the San Francisco 49ers. The NFL’s championship game, often called the UFC title fight of American football, will be contested between the AFC’s Denver Broncos and the NFC’s Carolina Panthers.
Carolina is seeking to become the 20th franchise to win a Super Bowl, while Denver is aiming to erase memories of a 43-8 blowout loss to the Seahawks two years ago and win their first championship since 1999. The Panthers have MVP winner Cam Newton at the helm at QB, to go along with a fierce, turnover-forcing defense. They finished the regular season 15-1 and are the 5.5 point favorites to finish 18-1. For Denver, this could be the final game of Peyton Manning’s illustrious career. It’s been a rough season for him, but he’s either going to retire with as many Super Bowl rings as his brother Eli, or end with just 1 Super Bowl in 4 tries. The Broncos defense is the consensus best in the league, but they’re up against an offensive juggernaut with the most dangerous dual-threat QB in the NFL.
UFC fighters, including several from last night’s Fight Night event in Las Vegas, submitted their predictions for Super Bowl 50, and you can watch them all at the top of the page. If you’re curious as to the final tally, here’s the full breakdown:
Fighters picking Denver
Joseph Benavidez
Roy Nelson
Ovince Saint Preux
Johny Hendricks
Jared Rosholt
Zach Makovsky
Fighters picking Carolina
Derrick Lewis
Stephen Thompson
Paul Felder
Mickey Gall
Mike Jackson
Max Holloway
For the record, Dana White (a New England Patriots fan) has the Panthers blowing out the Broncos.