Last week was not ideal. It started out with Karl Williams getting scratched from the slate and then snowballed with many of the most popular plays falling short of expectations. We did manage to identify three of the very best fights to target however but unfortunately were on the wrong side of two of those three.

This week at UFC Kansas City we have an interesting slate for fantasy purposes, but I do sort of feel somewhat disinterested which is strange considering the love this slate has been receiving across MMA spaces. There are several fights to target this week that I believe could put up significant scores for your GPP lineups.

Below you will see my recommended fights to target on the FanDuel slate for UFC Kansas City. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to tweet @WeWantPicks on Twitter and they will definitely get back to you ASAP. 

FIGHT #1 TO TARGET (-250 FDNGTD)

ION CUTELABA ($17) vs. TANNER BOSER ($14)

This fight is almost surely going to end inside the distance, in fact, there may even still be quite a bit of value left at -250. This is true because of Ion Cutelaba. Cutelaba is a guy who comes out strong and either finds his finish or he gasses himself out and gets finished. There doesn’t seem to be much of an in-between as of late.

Cutelaba is a dominant grappler that you can’t trust to always grapple. Unfortunately, Cutelaba also has a bit of power as well, and that is sometimes something he falls in love with instead of just following his easy-win script of pure grappling. Especially in this matchup where his opponent has had issues at heavyweight with staying standing, it would behoove Cutelaba to get his grappling flowing if he can. The issue here would be the gas tank, which has failed Cutelaba in numerous fights, and ultimately leads to him being finished himself.

Tanner Boser was an undersized heavyweight who is now trying to reinvent his career by becoming a large light heavyweight. The drop in weight class likely will increase Boser’s ability in two areas where he struggled mightily at heavyweight. Those two areas are takedown defense, and his power – which had seemed to be lacking at heavyweight. If Boser can weather the initial storm from Cutelaba here, he likely will find a finish.

For me trusting Cutelaba has run its course and I just can’t bring myself to do it again. That being said, if he wins he probably scores a ton and at this salary would basically be a need. On the flip side, the value is better on Boser, and if he wins it will almost surely be a second-round finish. This is a good fight to be exposed to both sides across your lineups. Personally, I prefer Boser for small fields and single entry, however.

FIGHT #2 TO TARGET (-135 FDNGTD)

MATHEUS NICOLAU ($21) vs. BRANDON ROYVAL ($10)

How this fight didn’t end up on the main card at the very least I do not understand. If I was the decision maker here this would have been the co-main event in fact. I am very excited about this fight between two absolute studs in the Flyweight division.

Matheus Nicolau is an absolute technician who seems to be very good everywhere. His striking is clean and crisp, and while it's not overpowering it does pack enough of a punch to be dangerous. He is also a dominant grappler, but many times doesn’t even need to progress to using that skill, instead opting to just stay safe and coast to victories. I think to win this fight he will need to channel that aspect of his game and use his takedowns to keep himself safe from wild exchanges on the feet.

Brandon Royval stands across the cage from Nicolau and is a very worthy opponent. Royval is a wild man in the cage, with powerful and accurate striking. The warrior spirit, while it cannot be truly measured, is strong with Royval which always makes for an exciting fight. Royval is capable on his back, but he does seem to lack the ability to keep himself from being there which can become a problem in this one quickly if Nicolau chooses.

I am firmly on the Nicolau side of this fight, but the line on it – and the salaries – are a bit wide considering Royval has only lost in the UFC to Moreno and Pantoja. For single entries or cash, I think Nicolau makes all the sense in the world if no other reason than his solid fight IQ. There certainly is merit in having a solid level of exposure to Brandon Royval as well for your multiple-entry contests as well.

FIGHT #3 TO TARGET (-190 FDNGTD)

GASTON BOLANOS ($20) vs. AARON PHILLIPS ($11)

Despite the line favoring this fight to inside the distance more so than the Nicolau fight I have moved this fight to the bottom of the three to target because I think this one is very one-sided. Bolanos is the rub for the UFC here, despite having three losses recently. Aaron Phillips is making his return to the UFC after being out of action for a while, and unfortunately, he wasn’t very impressive when he was active either.

Gaston Bolanos is a Muay Thai striker that is especially dangerous in the clinch. He does utilize trips and pushes to send his opponents to the ground, but he almost never follows if he can avoid it. Rightfully so if we are being honest because two of his most recent losses have come by submission.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find tape on his split decision loss if my life depended on it, so I was not able to see the red flags in a loss that didn’t end in a submission.

Aaron Phillips is also a striker, but for whatever reason he doesn’t actually fight like it in his UFC appearances. In fact, he has been very low volume, incredibly hittable, and just all-around underwhelming in every UFC fight he has been in. I would love to give him credit for something, but I just can’t. He is a feeder fish for upcoming talent at this point I believe, it is just a bit questionable when that upcoming talent has also been losing recently as well.

This is a shot on Bolanos all the way. I could see maybe sprinkling some Phillips in your multiple entries to protect yourself against the anomaly win, but I think Bolanos is going to win this in spectacular fashion – I would just feel a lot more confident in that if I could have seen how he lost his fight to Solo Hadley Jr.

GOOD LUCK THIS WEEKEND

Good look to all heading into this event. If you are watching it at home make sure to follow along with @WeWantPicks on YouTube for live bets. Also, make sure to tweet your winning lineups at us and we will do our best to recognize your greatness. 

Enjoy the event, and make sure to keep it locked on We Want Picks for tons of great MMA content.