Last week resulted in being on the correct side of all three fights (GM3 won idgaf). I definitely did not see that level of domination coming from Weili Zhang however, which propelled her to being the must-have play on the slate in all contest types. So while I was on the Weili side of that one, I did mention that Lemos could be a good large field tournament play and she was anything but. This time around I am looking to once again find the correct side of the three fights written up below, and hope for the best benefits possible being applied to my lineups because of those decisions. 

This weekend we head to Singapore for a UFC event featuring loads of the Asian talent, and an unfortunate start time of 5am eastern for the prelims and 8am eastern for the main card. I personally will not be getting up for the prelims, but I will get out of bed around 7am or so and see what I can.

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

FIGHT #1 TO TARGET (-650 FDNGTD)

RYAN SPANN ($16) vs. ANTHONY SMITH ($15)

We saw this fight once already back in 2021. In that first meeting Anthony Smith was able to secure a first round submission win. The careers here should be on different trajectories, but Smith is good enough to still surprise some people, and Spann is green enough to lose fights along the way for the rest of his career as well. All things considered this should be a good fight, but the predictability of it is definitely in question.

Unfortunately for Anthony Smith, he hasn’t won since his win over Spann in their last meeting. This included a recent loss to Johnny Walker where Smith appeared to be doing some type of mental role playing in the fight in an effort to pump himself up enough to turn it around. He was unable to do that and is now being viewed as some kind of mental case. Personally I don’t think that is an accurate narrative as I believe Smith was just very aware he was losing and was desperate to get himself back into it. That being said, there surely is some concern on my end that he might be at the end of his road in the UFC as a fighter and in my opinion, should likely embrace his role on the analyst team because he is very good at it.

Ryan Spann has powerful striking and slick grappling skills in scrambles. I do believe his grappling is limited to those scrambles though and falls a bit short in technical grappling exchanges, but when you pack the early power that Spann has that is probably enough to get the job done most times. Spann will almost never be the more well-rounded fighter in his match ups, but with his size and athletic ability he can cover up plenty of his deficiencies to get the job done at a decent clip.

I am pretty firmly on the Spann side here, despite him being the loser between these two just two years ago. I think Spann is going to be dangerous enough to clip Smith and find his own pay back submission in the chaos. Either side is a pretty solid position though as the winner of this fight should score plenty of points for a lineup.

FIGHT #2 TO TARGET (-400 FDGTD)

RINYA NAKAMURA ($22) vs. FERNIE GARCIA ($8)

After reading the headline of the fight here I would hope that you have already made a snap decision on which side of this fight to be on. Personally I have not a doubt in my mind. That being said, we do what we do here, and what we do is write shit down – so let’s get with the writing despite how obvious it is.

Rinya Nakamura is one of the most decorated prospects to come out of East Asian in a long time. Nakamura has very explosive and impressive wrestling, plenty of power in his hands, and a passion for violence that makes him exciting to watch. This fight should be another step along his UFC journey and one that should get him into the realm of fighting fighters that will at least be a big step up in competition soon.

This fight isn’t that one though in my opinion. I personally do not think very highly of Fernie Garcia on a UFC level. Making negative statements about UFC fighters is always tough, because to even be in the UFC you can rest assured that the fighter is actually a killer, but once you are there the levels begin to present themselves. Unfortunately for Fernie Garcia, he has not proven to be on a higher level than his opponent since making his official UFC debut against Journey Newsome.  

Like I stated in the first paragraph, this should be a clear play in one direction only. That direction should be Rinya Nakamura. There may be some merit to playing Garcia in massive contests on the “what if” strategy, but it definitely does not come with any level of safety.

FIGHT #3 TO TARGET (-400 FDNGTD)

YUSAKU KINOSHITA ($17) vs. BILLY GOFF ($14)

I think that the salaries here should be flipped personally. I don’t believe that I am alone either as Billy Goff is Jacob’s lock of the week selection this week, and last I checked was leading the community lock of the week voting as well. Kinoshita was taken down four times in one round by Adam Fuggit, and I just think that spells disaster for him in this matchup against Goff. Of course Goff could get caught coming in, and being susceptible to knock downs has been a thing for him, but I think he is too much for Kinoshita and should make quick work of him.

Obviously based on what I said I am on the Goff side, but you would be getting a massive amount of leverage on Kinoshita should he find a win here for your big tournaments because of the public being on Goff so heavily as well.

GOOD LUCK THIS WEEKEND

Good look to all heading into this event. If you are watching it at home, follow along with @WeWantPicks on YouTube for live bets on the fight companion. Also, 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.