Draftkings MMA Knockout Punch: UFC 231

Welcome to DraftKings MMA Knockout Punch for Saturday night December 8th. Tonight we have UFC: 231 with the two titles matches as our co-main events featuring Max Holloway vs Brian Ortega for the Featherweight title and former women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk moves up to flyweight to challenge rival Valentina Shevchenko for the vacant belt.

In my article I will you give some of my top DraftKings MMA picks in each price range that you can use to build your lineups.

Draftkings MMA Knockout Punch: UFC 231

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:

Aleksander Rakic – $9,500

Vegas Odds – (-550)

Austria’s Aleksandar Rakic, whose first two UFC wins were impressive decisions over Francimar Barroso and Justin Ledet. The 26-year-old lost his pro debut back in 2011, but has not looked back and won 10 straight fights since than. His opponent, Devin Clark ($6,700), could pose a threat to Rakic’s win streak but Rakic’s takedown defense looks good and he showed a tremendous ground-and-pound last fight against Justin Ledet, and he’s the vastly superior striker.

Valentina Shevchenko – $9,400

Vegas Odds – (-345)

This fight is fascinating because both Shevchenko and her opponent, Joanna  Jedrzejczyk ($6,800), have a Muay Thai background and make their respective livings by beating up their opposition on the feet. Valentina is a bit more accurate with her strikes and has a bit more finishing power, while Joanna is slightly better at putting together combinations. In the end for me it’s as simple as I don’t trust Joanna’s ability handle the physicality of Shevchenko. This is probably as cheap of a salary as you will ever see her listed at and she makes plenty of sense if you plan on submitting multiple lineups, but from a cash game perspective Shevchenko is the pick.

Claudia Gadelha – $9,300

Vegas Odds – (-320)

I am not really sure the decision-making behind this fight by UFC. Gadelha has been one of strawweight division’s best fighters since her debut back in 2014. She has amazing upper-body strength and solid submission skills. Gadelha’s only lost three UFC fights, 2 times to Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade, two of the best the division has ever seen. Nina Ansaroff ($6,900) seems unworthy of this opportunity to take on the top ranked Brazilian. While she is a respectable fighter, she just doesn’t have the ability to keep up with Gadelha.

Draftkings MMA Knockout Punch: UFC 231

Draftkings MMA Mid Tier Fighters:

Thiago Santos – $8,800

Vegas Odds – (-225)

This is an intriguing fight with Jimi Manuwa’s ($7,400) recent struggles in the octagon and the fact that Santos who is normally a middleweight is stepping into the light heavyweight division for his second straight fight, both in the span of 3 months. Manuwa was obliterated by Volkan Oezdemir last July in just 42 seconds and then proceeded to lose to mediocre Jan Blachowicz  in a unanimous-decision in March of this year. Manuwa is 38 years old and is really just a one trick pony knockout artist. Santos is the better fighter with more weapons but is also an all out power fighter who also seeks to finish his opponents. This fight could go either way but Santos should be able to handle Manuwa and knock him out in one the early rounds.

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Hakeem Dawodu – $8,600

Vegas odds – (-185)

This is really a fight that could go either way, but looking over the stats I am leaning to the favorite, Dawodu. One stat that really stands out to me is the fact that Hakeem has 5.0 significant strikes landed per minute as opposed to Kyle Bochniak ($7,600) and his 2.6, as well as a 45.1% landed % to Bochniak’s 31%. In his 8 wins Dawodu has 6 6 knockouts and 2 decisions. Bochniak loves to brawl which will likely land him in trouble and Dawodu has too much speed and power to not capitalize on this and knock him out.

Max Holloway –  ($8,300)

Vegas Odds – (-125)

Holloway has been one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world over the past several years. He is currently riding a 12 fight winning streak spanning more than 5 and half years who is continuously improving, but his ongoing health issues are a concern moving forward. Brian Ortega ($7,900) is undefeated as a professional and this past April he became the first, and only man, to knockout Frankie Edgar, which makes him worthy of a title shot. Ortega has a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu is a threat to finish any fight with a submission at any time , but his striking ability, while improved, is jut not up to par with Holloway. Even though his knockout of Edgar is was impressive it had a sort flukiness to it.

Ortega may be the second best 145-lb fighter in the world but he just not going to continue making a living putting people to sleep with his hands. Holloway has a substantial advantage in the striking game, his takedown defense is far and away better than Ortegas (83 percent) and he has shown the ability to keep up his pace as the fights progress. Ortega starts slow and tends to pull out his finishes late in fights and that just isn’t going to work with the champ. Holloway wins this won, but it could come in a decision which makes stacking this fight a viable option in both cash and gpp games.

Draftkings MMA Value Tier Fighters:

Alex  Oliveira  –  $7,800

Vegas Odds – (+ 145)

Oliveira has probably been one of the more underrated fighters in UFC since his company debut back in March 2015. This week he gets a chance to add another signature victory to his resume. The Brazilian is now 9-3 during his time in UFC, and included in that stretch are victories over Carlos Condit and Will Brooks. Gunnar Nelson ($8,400) is one of the best submission specialists in the world right now and any work he is doing on his feet is to set up a submission. If Oliveria plans on getting into a grappling war with Nelson, it will end in disaster for him.  Although both fighters stand 5 foot 11, Oliviera has a 4 and half-inch reach advantage over Nelson. He will also have a significant striking advantage and the longer this fight stays upright it gives Oliveira the better shot at winning.

Gilbert Burns – $7,700

Vegas Odds – ( +120)

Though Gilbert Burns’ Brazilian jiujitsu background carried him to UFC,  it has been his knockout power that has taken center stage recently. He has earned one-punch finishes of Jason Saggo and Dan Moret and tried the same with Dan Hooker this past July, but Hooker came out on top knocking out Burns in the first round. Burns has submitted 7 opponents and knocked out another 5 equaling 12 of his 13 wins in his professional career. Olivier Aubin-Mercier’s ($8,500) struggles against Carlos Diego Ferreira and Alexander Hernandez have me thinking the ineffectiveness of his judo against big, explosive grapplers may like Burns. Burns could take this early in knockout or submission fashion.

Thanks for reading MMA DraftKings: Knockout Punch! Good luck with your lineups on Saturday and make sure you check out FantasyCpr.com for all things fantasy sports!