We are heading into UFC Fight Night in Shanghai, where Umar Nurmagomedov takes on Song Yadong in the headliner for the Bantamweight division, and we get a nice early start that most of us will only wake up to see the last few. I think last time they were over there, I woke up just in time to see Johnny Walker win as a huge dog and beat the hometown hero. There are a lot of….”regional” fighters on this card, a handful of new prospects, and a lot of young and up and comers. Should be gold for DFS, and maybe we see another solo shipper in the main GPP contest on DK.
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$9,000+ PRICE POINT
Rei Tsuruya
Rei is going to chain wrestle Borjas to death here, and eventually find a submission. Ideally for how he fights, a round 2 finish probably pays off pretty well, assuming Borjas can get back to his feet. He is the only one I think can possibly beat Umar if both have dominating fights when it comes to DK scoring.
Umar Nurmagomedov
We will see Umar land probably 10 takedowns, have 15 minutes of control time, land 100 strikes with most of it being ground and pound, and if he does not find a finish he will still score a shit ton of DK points here en route to a decision win. I just don’t see any path to victory for Song besides a flukey KO, and Umar is going to impose his will here more than likely and has the highest ceiling of any fighter on the slate for DK points.
Kai Asakura
When he is not being grappled and taken down en route to a submission, Kai has looked fantastic on his feet. Aoriqileng will more than likely attempt to get this fight to the mat, but that is not his strength and I think we will see Asakura find a finish with that crazy power he has. He needs a finish in the first two rounds, and ideally one of those knockdowns followed up with a bunch of ground strikes, but Kai ITD incoming.
$8,000 – $8,900 PRICE POINT
Julia Polastri
Polastri lands a ton of strikes per minute, and Xiong apparently thinks defending strikes with her face is a good strategy. I think we will see the 10 year younger fighter in Polastri just piece her up on the feet en route to a 29-28 win that would be 30-27 in any other country they fight in.
Liu Ce
This is going to come down to if he can defend a takedown more than likely, but Rodrigues is not a big wrestler. Liu should be able to beat him on the feet, and has the power to find an early finish if he can connect well.
Sumudaerji
They just fought, and I am going to side with Sumudaerji once again who has the 7 inch reach advantage, slightly higher output on the feet and better defense on the feet. 4 years younger, faster, and we more than likely see another decision here but he is the pick.
Under $8,000 PRICE POINT
Jack Jenkins
I think Jenkins is going to break Woodson’s leg here like in his hayday, and find a finish. He can wrestle, he has the power, and just has to not going jabbed to death by Woodson who will have a crazy 10 inch reach advantage. He is crazy tall for the division, but I think we see Jack get inside the pocket and beat up Sean here.
Denise Gomes
This is a pretty damn close fight metrics wise, but you get a huge discount on salary to take
Gomes who is also 11 years younger. She should be able to beat the once title contender in Xiaonan, and keep moving her way up the division. Gomes by decision is the likely path, but you have to pick dogs for DK so she is one of the better options.
Nilson Rojas
He gets the highly touted Hasan here coming fresh off his DWCS knockout over another “prospect from India”. I just feel like this is another instance where we will see a young DWCS stud struggle, and if he wins at this price point he is optimal more times than not.
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