Back to Back numbered events to keep the new era of UFC rolling on Paramount, and this week he head down under for UFC 325 headlined by a title rematch of Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes. The first fight was very entertaining, and although other contenders probably merit the chance, UFC brass opted for the more entertaining fighter in Lopes. The Co-Main is a banger with Dan Hooker vs Benoit St Denis, which almost assuredly will end inside the distance with some violence on display. There are 4 fights on this card that are the finale for the road to UFC, so we have 10 actual fights in the UFC and then the first 4 to give us 14 fights for DFS.
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
Quillan Salkilld
He looks like a very promising young fighter, coming off a nasty headkick KO. He averages 116 DK points per fight in his 3 fights, and even in the fight where he went to decision instead of a first round KO he mixed in 8 takedowns and scored 117. Mullarkey does not have a very good chin, and even though he is much more of a veteran, this looks like a spot where Quillan gets another highlight finish.
Beniot Saint Denis
These are two of the absolute toughest dogs in the UFC. I think Hooker would win in a kickboxing matchup, but this being a UFC fight means Benoit can implement his wrestling and BJJ which has a massive advantage with. He averages 4 takedowns per fight, and that factors in his 20 second knockout of Dariush last time out. He has rebounded very nicely from his b2b losses to Poirier and Moicano, with 3 straight wins by finish where he is averaging almost 120 DK points per fight.
Tallison Teixeira
So, he killed the other Tafa brother in his debut, after getting a nice KO on the contender series, and then got slept by Derick Lewis last fight. This fight is ending by KO one way or the other. If Tuivasa shows up looking like a beluga whale at weigh ins, Tallison is going to kill him. He has an 8 inch reach advantage, is 5 inches taller as well so he can pick Tai apart on the outside which means Tai will have to take the chance of closing the distance to get inside and risk the big KO shot on the way in.
$8,000 – $8,900 PRICE POINT
Billy Elekana
This fight can go one of two ways, a super boring low output fight where Elekena stays away from Tafa’s power…or he starches Junior and reiterates why neither Tafa brother belongs in the UFC. He had a really nice KO win last time out, and Tafa has looked pretty terrible for most of the last few years. Tafa has only beaten a dreadful Parker Porter and Sharaf in his time in the UFC, and Elekana lost to Guskov which is understandable and then won his last two. Elekena by finish, and if it gets to the mat Tafa is immediately dead in the water.
Dom Mar Fan
Dom Mar Fan is the younger, longer reach prospect who should be better on the feet and just overall seems to be a better fighter. He can mix in takedowns on top of being able to win on the feet with striking. He has better power, is faster, and I think we see him win and get his UFC contract here.
Namsrai Batbayar
This will come down to dodging the crazy power shots of Tau and figuring out a way to get him to the ground where he will be outclassed. Namsrai is averaging a little over 2 takedowns per fight, and will hunt for the submission finish when it gets to the mat. He is busy enough on the feet averaging 3.5 significant strikes per minute, but the clear path to victory is grappling and I think he takes advantage of Tau’s aggressive nature and lets him get himself into a compromising position and finds the finish.
Under $8,000 PRICE POINT
Diego Lopes
Rematch here where I thought Lopes would be able to finish Volk early based off of how Volk had looked in his previous fights. Lopes is bigger, stronger, and I think he will take what cost him the decision loss last time and make improvements and retire Volk in front of his home crowd. Elite grappling if it gets to the mat, we have seen his power turn the lights off of his opponents, and I think he makes a statement and shows why the UFC chose him for the rematch over Murphy and Movsar.
Torrez Finney
I did not really expect a matchup for Torrez where he is not completely outsized, but here we are. Malkoun is a heavy wrestler as well, and I think Finney just is better at it than him. Finney surely received feedback on how boring his fight was last time out and was told if he is not busy with takedowns they will stand them up. His wrestling upside is wild, 3 takedowns per round, and Malkoun has bad takedown defense. I will side with the younger Finney here for an upset and him to rack up DK points.
Tai Tuivasa
I know I have Teixeira up top also, I think you 100% need this fight in your lineup. There is no chance it goes to decision, both of these guys will be trying to knock the other one’s head off. This is also before weigh ins, and if Tai is no longer a morbidly obese bastard like he was last year, then I like his chances against an unproven prospect who just got knocked out last fight. If he looks awful, then I would flop him for Kaan Ofli because I do not think Yizha is very good, he just had a great matchup handed to him last time out.
CHECK OUT ADP DFS FOR MORE
If you are interested in playing DFS for other sports, you would probably also enjoy the content that I provide on my website www.adpdfs.com. We have an entire team of DFS professionals that cover most major sports and do so from a data driven perspective that has us enjoying green screens week in and week out. Hope to see you over there!
