TOP PICKS
FRANK MIR COST: LOW Heavyweights are always a great addition to your Fantasy MMA team, because Heavyweights finish fights and fighters who win inside the distance can score you big points. Frank Mir may be the underdog in this fight, but I feel it’s just as likely that Frank finishes Bigfoot inside the distance, as it is Bigfoot finishes Frank. If you believe Bigfoot will win this fight, you may want to put him in your team instead, but I think Frank Mir is a great value pick for a relatively low price. EDSON BARBOZA Cost: MEDIUM Edson Barboza has home advantage on his side and fight finishing kicks. Michael Johnson fights out of the Southpaw stance, which means he’s wide open to Barboza’s powerful body, leg and head kicks. With Johnson moving towards Barboza’s most dangerous weapon, I believe there’s a very good chance Barboza wins this fight by devastating knockout, which would score you big points in DraftKings and Kountermove. WILLIAM MACARIOCOST: HIGH William Macario has superb Boxing and Matt Dwyer has terrible striking defence. Dwyer frequently gets rocked in his fights and I believe it’s highly likely we’ll see Macario win this fight by knockout or TKO. Macario’s not cheap, but he’s an essential pick for your UFC Fight Night 61 Fantasy MMA team. [divider]
SAFE PICKS
CEZAR FERREIRA COST: HIGH Cezar Ferreira may not win this fight inside the distance, but he should easily beat Sam Alvey. Ferreira is simply better than Alvey everywhere. Ferreira can win this fight by outstriking Alvey or taking him down and controlling him on the ground. I know Ferreira is expensive, but he’s a solid pick and he’s got home advantage on his side. IURI ALCANTARA COST: HIGH Alcantara is well rouned, dangerous and he’s got home advantage on his side. This is a huge step up in competition for Frankie Saenz and it’s difficult to see a way that he could win. Alcantara may not win inside the distance, but he certainly has the skills to cruise to a unanimous decision win… [divider]DANGEROUS DOGS
ADRIANO MARTINS COST: LOW Adriano Martins is a low cost pick with knockout power and deadly submission skills. With home advantage on his side, there’s a chance that he can win this fight inside the distance and score you big points. Adriano Martins is not a fighter that many people will have in their teams, so putting him in your team will give you the potential to win big money if Martins wins inside the distance. SANTIAGO PONZINIBBIO COST: LOW Santiago Ponzinibbio is a great pick because he’s well rounded, he doesn’t cost that much and he fights extremely aggressively. Strickland has looked nervous and tentative in his first two fights in the UFC and Ponzinibbio will get right in his face from the very first second. Ponzinibbio knocked out an experienced Muay Thai striker in his last fight and he’s got a solid grappling game since he trains at Team Nogueira. Ponzinibbio is Argentinian, but the Brazilians love him because of his relationship with the Nogueira brothers. With relative home advantage on his side, I feel there’s a good chance Ponzinibbio knocks Strickland out. JOSH SHOCKLEY COST: LOW Ivan Jorge has home advantage and experience on his side but Josh Shockley is young, athletic and well rounded. I haven’t been impressed by Ivan Jorge and Shockley is reasonably good everywhere. Jorge is slow and at 34 years old his chin might be starting to fade, Shockley’s capable of knocking him out and he has a very solid ground game. Shockley has a good chance of winning this fight and he doesn’t cost that much.
