We are heading back to the Apex for a fight night that looks underwhelming based on name recognition, but should be a pretty fun fight card altogether. They are competing with Netflix this week as the Rousey fight card is going on at the same time, so prize pools are backed down, but there is still a lot of money to be made.

For anyone who hasn’t read this article before, this series will be released every week on Thursday and will cover the slate by isolating the fighters that I like within the various salary groups. Plays are subject to change as new information comes out and you can unlock access to the entire suite of DraftKings DFS tools and information with Premium Membership – Click Here To Join – Use code ‘ADP’ for 10% off your first month!

 

$9,000+ PRICE POINT

Malcolm Wellmaker

He is one of two fighters in the 9K range, but I am more likely to roster his opponent than him, he looked lost last time out against short notice Ewing and I think Diaz will work a similar gameplan, he has obvious KO power so if you can bet a double chance of him by KO or Diaz by decision that seems fair, but I don’t see myself paying up for him this week.

Nicolle Caliari

Bannon sucks. Caliari should be able to drag her to the mat and find a finish here, and to be stereotypical we generally see the higher priced WMMA fighters come in underowned due to the finishing upside not always being there, but I think we can see a first or second round submission here and her pay off the salary easily. 

 

$8,000 – $8,900 PRICE POINT

Alice Ardelean

Polyana also is not great, so I expect we see Ardelean piece her up on the feet which will cause Viana to panic shoot takedowns from out of position, which will lead to even more damage being dealt by Alice. In a battle of the internet workers, I am going to side with Ardelean who has shown she can score well in wins recently and Polyana has been pretty bad in her last 5 fights.

Benardo Sopaj

Sopaj is good, he is unfortunately forever going to be known as the guy who had one of the nastiest flying knee knockouts done to him, but he is a young scrappy fighter who should be able to get Cuamba to the ground when need be, and has better output on the feet. Hopefully the gas tank is there, but I think we will see Sopaj by finish here.

Khaos Williams

Coming in off back to back losses, I think we will see him be able to handle whatever Veretennikov throws his way and get back on the horse with a win here. He averages 5 significant strikes per minute, has good power with landing knockdowns in half his fights. He is kind of KO or bust for his score, but Khaos is a head hunter who is looking to get back on track.

 

Under $8,000 PRICE POINT

Dooho Choi

This fight should be  a lot of fun, two evenly matched fighters who both average over 4.5 significant strikes per minute and both can wrestle when needed. I think that is the path Santos will take, but in a fight that is closely lined for the analytics side of things, I will take the dog who always is looking to put on the fight of the night.

Melquizael Costa

Allen is the more polished fighter who has more experience in the UFC, but Costa is on a really nice run and has been finishing people. He is a very good submission artist, has shown he has the power to KO people, and I am going to go with the underdog here to continue his winning streak and find another finish. 

Juan Diaz 

He is a young gun who gets matched up with the recently coming off their first loss ever for Wellmaker. I think we will see him implement a lot of wrestling, clinch work, while still having a solid offensive output. Both guys average 5.8 significant strikes per minute, so this one will come down to if Diaz is smart and negates Wellmaker’s power by wrestling, or stands and bangs and looks for a highlight finish trying to win 100K. 

 

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