Welcome to DraftKings MMA Knockout Punch for UFC Fight Night 139! This week we have a co-main event featuring the return of Chan Sung Jung “The Korean Zombie” taking on Yair Rodriguez and Donald Cerrone taking on Mike Perry.
I will break down this DraftKings MMA slate into 3 tiers (High, Mid, Value) in hopes of helping you build a winning lineup for Saturday night.
For those who haven’t played DraftKings MMA before you are given $50K to build a 6 fighter lineup to earn points for such statistics as significant strikes,advances, takedowns,reversals/sweeps and, knockdowns.
You also earn bonus points for wins based on the round the fight is finished in. There are multiple different strategies to utilize depending on the style of games ( Cash or GPP) I will highlight 2 of them.
First, if you are playing cash games one way to play is stacking the main event (or any other 5 round contests). In cash games you aren’t necessarily chasing wins, not that you don’t need fighters who win, but it’s more about racking up points with your fighters and the more rounds a fight goes the more secondary points they can get.
In GPP’s you are looking for winners who win by KO or submission, you really don’t want contests that go to a decision because generally the point totals there will be less than say a 1st or 2nd round KO.
MMA DraftKings Top Tier:
Davi Ramos – $9,500
Vegas Odds: -970
Ramos is far and away the biggest favorite on this card and with that should be a lock for all of your cash lineups. Ramos has won 4 of his last 5 fights winning 3 with a rear naked choke and 2 coming in the first round of the fight. Ramos lands 3.19 Strikes Landed per Minute as opposed to Gunther’s 1.8 and has a 37% accuracy as well as a 54% takedown accuracy.
Maycee Barber – $9,400
Vegas Odds: -415
Maycee “The Future” Barber is the latest up and comer that UFC is getting behind and this is why she’s being featured on the main card on Saturday. Her nickname alone should tell you all you need to know about Hannah Cifers’ chances in this fight.
Barber has had 3 fights this year, and has won all three by either TKO or Submission. Of all the fighters on this card Barber seems like one the biggest locks for an early round victory and a big point total.
Luis Pena – $9,300
Vegas Odds: -300
Luis ” Violent Bob Ross” Pena has pretty much the best nickname I’ve ever heard. Besides having the far and away better nickname this match should be closely contested and could go either way. I am staying away from Pena in cash games but I will fire him up as a top play for GPP’s. Pena is the taller fighter and has a longer reach than Trizano. Pena won his only UFC fight with a first round submission.
MMA DraftKings Mid Tier:
Mike Perry – $8,900
Vegas Odds: -225
When you look at Perry’s win/loss record of late he doesn’t have a great record, but his opponent, Donald Cerrone, has a worse record of late losing 4 of his last 5 and he was knocked out in 2 of the 4 losses. Perry is a tad smaller but he is the younger fighter of the two.
I have a feeling this fight ends early with Perry knocking out Cerrone. Cerrone is older like I said and undersized at 170lbs and Perry’s physicality will prove too much for him and Perry will take him down and out early in the first 10 minutes of this fight.
Germaine de Randamie – $8,800
Vegas Odds: -165
GDR has had a turbulent year and a half or so. After winning the inaugural UFC Women’s Featherweight title she was striped of it after refusing to fight Cris Cyborg. She then had 2 fights canceled because of injury, but now she is back in a very winnable fight for her.
If GDR is committed to this fight she should be able to take care of Pennington with ease, but we are not sure of her mentality since she contemplated retirement after the whole Cyborg issue. I like her as a GPP play just because we are not sure where she’s at. You can also use Raquel Pennington ($7,400) as a value GPP play as well if you think de Randamie’s head isn’t into it.
Chan Sung Jung – $8,500
Vegas Odds: -135
The Korean Zombie is fighting Yair Rodriguez who is ironically stepping for the man who beat him in his last fight, Frankie Edgar. Jung spent the past 3+ years sidelined completing his military obligations but returned in February to a one punch out knockout victory over Dennis Bermudez.
As a former kickboxer, The Zombie’s background is in striking, but he has had 8 of his 14 career victories come by submission. He doesn’t have the same name recognition as some of the division’s other top competitors because of how long he was away from the octagon, but Jung is a legitimate, world-class talent.
This is also a fight I may consider as a stack in my cash games because of the talent of both fighters there is a chance this goes the full 5 and comes to a decision. If Rodriguez is on, and focuses on his defense as well as dynamic offense he could win, but that’s not always the case.
MMA DraftKings Value Tier
Bobby Moffett – $7,800
Vegas Odds: -115
This fight has a very good chance to go to a finish based on the talent of both men, but I think Moffett has the best chance to get the win and maybe even the knockout win. Moffett’s opponent, Chas Skelly, hasn’t has a fight in just about a year and a half and could be a bit rusty coming out of the gate and has the possibility to lead to a Moffett submission win. Moffet has won his last 3 fights overall and 2 of them came from early round submissions.
There are some punts available here for GPP’s that I am interested in:
Michael Trizano – $6,900
Hannah Cifers – $6, 800
With there being no fighters over $10K on this slate you don’t need to get down to these low-priced fighters necessarily you just need to pick a couple of mid $7K fighters. I will be using the likes of Thiago Moises ($7,500), Amanda “Bobbi” Cooper ($7,600), and Yair Rodriguez ($7,700)
Thanks for reading MMA DraftKings: Knockout Punch! Good luck with your lineups on Saturday and make sure you check out FantasyCpr.com for all thing fantasy sports!