Draftkings MMA Knockout Punch: UFC Fight Night 142

Welcome to DraftKings MMA Knockout Punch for Saturday night December 1. Tonight we have UFC Fight Night 142 with the main even featuring Junior Dos Santos vs Tai Tuivasa. In my article I will you give some of my top picks in each price range and at the end give you a “core” cash lineup you can use for the  event ( DraftKings doesn’t allow us to give full lineups so I will leave a few spots open for you to make a choice of who you want to use)

Draftkings MMA Knockout Punch: UFC Fight Night 142

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. Stacking main events is sometimes a smart cash game move because of the 5 round potential and that ability for both fighters to rack up points.  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.

Draftkings MMA High Tier Fighters:

Tyson Pedro – $9,400

Vegas Line : -440

One thing that automatically drew me to Pedro is that he is from Australia where this event takes place. Fighters love putting on a show in front of their home crowd. Pedro has 7 wins in UFC and all of them have been from either KO or submission. Pedro has what could be considered an “easy”  win against Mauricio Rua.

Kai Kara-France – $9,100

Vegas Line : -380

Kare-France has won 5 straight fights with 3 of the coming in KO or submission fashion and overall has won 17 fights in UFC with 12 coming from KO and submission. Vegas also has Kara-France as a big favorite to finish (-112) based off these stats. He has earned the nick name “Don’t Blink” because of his knockout ability, and while not always living up to the name, he definitely has the ability to end this fight early. I feel Kara-France is a safe bet in both cash and GPP’s

Other options : Sodiq Yusuff ($9.3K, -560) Alexey Kunchenko ($9.2K – 335)

Draftkings MMA Mid Tier Fighters:

Jimmy Crute – $8,700

Vegas Line: – 260

Jim ” The Brute” Crute is another fighter who has shown the ability to finish fights with 5 of his 8 victories ending in KO or sub and all of them ended in the first round. Crute is also an aggressive fighter with good cardio who can last the full 3 rounds easily if needed. His opponent, Paul Craig, does have a good striking game that Crute has difficulty defending make Craig a sleep GPP pick, but my pick in this fight is Crute .

Junior Dos Santos – $8,300, Tai Tuivasa – $7,900

Vegas Line: Dos Santos -150

This is the main event and which means we have the potential for 5 rounds of action here.  If you read the opening you know that stacking the main event is sometimes a great strategy for cash games, with that said in cash games I am most likely staking this fight.  We can expect 120 or more DK points with the stack. If you are playing GPP’s I like Dos Santos as the favorite to win even without the finish. I do believe Dos Santos can finish the fight though since he was won 13 fights by KO or Sub and 5 coming in the 1st round.

Other options : Ben Nguyen ($8,500 -155) , Jake Matthews ($8,400 -115), Justin Willis ($8,200, -120)

Draftkings MMA MMA Low Tier Fighters

Wilson Reis – $7,700

Vegas Lines: + 135

This is a fight that can go either way but I do not like Ben Nguyen as much as Reis even though he is the favorite because it has the potential to go to a decision and Reis presents more value if it does end in a decision. Yes, Reis has lost 3 fights in a row that is why it is not wrong to have some exposure to Nguyen. I prefer Reis still because of his wrestling ability and the upside he presents.

Yushin Okami – $7,000

Vegas Line: + 275

Okami has won 4 of his last 5 fights and overall 16 wins by KO or Sub, but he has won 19 by decision. For his price a win by decision should still let Okami make value, even a loss could still get him enough points to keep you in your cash games. I don’t love this pick but I want to be able to get some of the top-tier fighters in and you need to take a chance on some of the low price value guys.

DraftKings “Core” Lineup

Pedro – $9,400

Dos Santos – $8,300

Reis – $7,700

Okami – $7,000

This leaves you $17,600 for our finally 2 roster spots ($8,800 avg per fighter)

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!