Ludovit Klein came into this fight after experiencing a questionable split decision and two previous losses which had most of the community sour to the idea of betting on him against a surging Mason Jones. Many thought that Klein just wasn't what we thought he was and that there was no way he could win against such a talented fighter as Mason Jones. There was one man who thought otherwise and was willing to put his money where his mouth was, and that man was The Freckled Salamander. Klein managed to stuff the takedowns, win the battle for control time, and outstrike Mason Jones while cruising to a unanimous decision.

Now sitting as a multiple time, and most profitable Lock of the Week of all time, Leon Edwards came into his first matchup against Kamaru Usman a significant underdog. Among the sea of Kamaru Usman support there was a lone voice screaming the name Leon Edwards from the rooftops of the MMA capping community. That lone voice was Jacob Lines from We Want Picks. Virtually no one believed, but still he pressed on voicing his support for Leon Edwards far and wide. As the fight progressed at UFC 278 hope was scarce as Usman was dominating the fight. In the last minute, of the last round, Jacob would be vindicated as Edwards connected with the kick heard round the world that left Usman stiff as a board on the canvas of the cage.

If you don't remember this fight you should open up your fight pass app and watch it again for old times sake. This was an absolute war. Once again this was another spot where almost the entire world was on the David Onama side, and Jacob went against the grain citing the propensity that Nate Landwehr has to fight for your money as his reasoning. Fight Nate Landwehr did in this contest. In fact he was beat up early, and it appeared that David Onama was going to take the victory just as all had expected…until the tide started to turn. Nate caught a second wind for the ages and was able to put on an amazing show as he battled back as Onama faded and was able to claim the majority decision.

This fight was not the most exciting fight in the world, but the line made it just right for a great Lock of the Week call. This fight was mostly a stand up battle where Gloria de Paula was fighting a woman largely considered the better striker. In true Lock of the Week fashion however, Gloria rose to the challenge and out landed Diana Belbita in all three rounds, achieved a takedown, and had over a full round of control time. The line would eventually close with Gloria de Paula just a slight underdog at +110, but Jacob blessed premium members with this line shortly after it opened for a monster win! While the fight itself isn't overly memorable, it does serve as a great reminder of the benefits of being a premium member on We Want Picks.

The only two time Lock of the Week Hall of Fame member is Leon “Rocky” Edwards. Both of his Hall of Fame wins came against Kamaru Usman and while this one was not completed in an epic way like the first one, and the line wasn't quite as favorable, this win was pure domination from Leon Edwards who controlled the fight from start to finish. In fact the only person in the world that didn't see the fight like that was Angelo, who was significantly inebriated and pre-disposed to be biased in favor of the wrestler. This Lock of the Week would be Jacob's single heaviest bet in his MMA betting career, placing $1,000 (10 units) on Leon Edwards and voiced his confidence at every opportunity. Leon Edwards is highly regarded in Lock of the Week lore.

Leading up to this fight the narrative was that Miles Johns was just going to be able to dominate the action with his wrestling. Jacob would remind us just how good of a wrestler John “Sexi Mexi” Castaneda is before selecting him as his Lock of the Week. Jacob took plenty of heat for this selection but as the fight played out it became clear that Jacob saw something that most ignored as Castaneda was able to keep the action standing for the most part, outstrike Miles John in all three rounds, and then ultimately find the finish by arm triangle in the final round as Miles Johns started to fade. This would be one of the Lock of the Week selections that really sprung Lock of the Week into being larger than life at a time before it had its own dedicated video on the channel.

When Jacob selected Matt Frevola as his Lock of the Week for UFC 288 there was plenty to be said from the We Want Picks community. Numerous comments about how bad the pick was, how Frevola was going to be the fade of the week, and probably the most about how silly it was to go against the chin of Drew Dober. Jacob would have the last laugh however as Matt Frevola went into the fight against Drew Dober and absolutely flatlined the best chin in MMA. There would be some cringe to follow in the post fight interview from Matt Frevola, but it was the biggest win of his career, and made the Lock of the Week Hall of Fame, so we can forgive him a fair amount of cringe.

Jacob took quite a bit of heat for this one, and for what its worth this ended up being one of the most boring fights of 2023 at the time of this write up, but Gomis did get the job done. The major complaint from the masses was that Gomis is French and that French fighters have a history of giving up in the cage. Jacob was confident that wasn't going to happen however as Gomis had held out tapping in a previous fight when he was caught in a deep submission. A big part of why people didn't love this selection for Lock of the Week was that Francis Marshall was one of the hyped up fighters coming up from Dana White's Contender Series. Gomis did what needed to be done, including withstanding another deep submission attempt to secure the split decision.

The hyper surrounding Gomes' opponent coming into this fight was intense. Her opponent was Bruna Brasil who was supposed to be the next big thing in Women's MMA. Jacob ignored the hype and recognized the challenges that Denise Gomes would present to Bruna Brasil. As such he made Denise Gomes the Lock of the Week following a short stint where the message coming from We Want Picks was to not bet on Women's MMA. Gomes was the lock for the aggression that she shows in the cage and it was Jacob's belief that she was going to make Bruna uncomfortable and expose the holes in her game. Gomes did just that with takedowns non-stop pressure and she eventually found the knock out in round two.

Nicolae's opponent in this fight, Ihor Potieria, was coming off a very impressive knock out win on Dana White's Contender Series so the buzz surrounding his striking and power was very loud. Like a Bhuddist Monk however, Jacob drowned out the noise and focused on the things that really mattered. He focused on experience, well-roundedness, and overall toughness. Those traits allowed him to isolate Nicolae Negumereanu as the Lock of the Week. Nicolae did not let us down, backing Ihor against the cage in round one and putting him on the ground, wearing down the more inexperienced fighter. By the time round two came around, Nicolae continued his dominance, ultimately pushing Ihor against the cage again and overwhelming him with strikes.