We are heading into UFC Fight Abu Dhabi, featuring Ankalaev vs Guskov since Khalil pulled out. The ufc is across the globe for this one, so we have a nice early Saturday morning of fights. It’s not spectacular, but there’s money to win regardless. 13 fights, a couple are making their debuts, and a few sloppy fights nonetheless, but overall is going to be a solid morning of violence.
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
Islam Dulatov
He has a 3 inch height, 3 inch reach advantage, and nearly 3X the amount of offensive output on the feet coming in just under 9 significant strikes per minute. He also can mix in takedowns, has 100% takedown defense, and I think is just going to beat the living shit out of Turman here en route to a big boy score.
Magomed Tuchalov
Ribeiro has shown he is super likely to get KO’d in a loss, and Tuchalov is a huge favorite who is seemingly the only people Brendson gets matched up with, but Magomed is someone who will be pushing the pace non stop looking for a finish. I think we see an early KO here and 100+ DK points.
Sam Patterson
Patterson had looked great since his debut, but he ran into the elusive MVP who he could not catch him with anything. He has a huge 5 inch reach advantage, very good jujitsu, and he is fighting Ponzinibbio who is almost 10 years older against someone who will need to catch him with a knockout in order to win. Patterson ITD is the pick.
$8,000 – $8,900 PRICE POINT
Valter Walker
Valter said he is going to stand and bang instead of looking for heel hooks, but we will see if he sticks to that. Peterson is not great, but he will test Walker if Valter cannot get the fight to the mat and find a submission. Whoever wins the wrestling in this fight will come out with the win, and I think I like Walker’s ability to find crazy submissions here since Peterson is not a heavy handed KO heavyweight.
Dustin Jacoby
Fighting someone who does not throw heavy hands, does not shoot takedowns, and he gets someone making their debut against a proven UFC vet who averages almost 5.5 significant strikes per minute. He probably will not score very well unless he finds a finish, but regardless he is the pick to win here.
Ramazan Temirov
Erceg is very hittable, and he is fighting Temirov who has crazy power in that tiny little 5’4” frame. Temirov may not score a lot unless he gets a finish, but the 8K range is fairly meh and I think he will come through and KO Erceg who won’t be able to rely on any kind of wrestling.
Under $8,000 PRICE POINT
Ismael Bonfim
Bonfim is in a bit of a rut lately, but Sola is not a world beater. Bonfim averages 5.5 significant strikes per minute, has the ability to find a takedown if need be, and Sola does not have great takedown defense. The southpaw vs orthodox matchup where Bonfim has a reach and height disadvantage is not great, but I think we see him have a solid gameplan where he does not let Axel dictate the pace of this fight and grinds out a win for us.
Tyrell Fortune
This is going to be a sloppy heavyweight fight, but I will take Fortune as a dog here. They both want to wrestle, both have crazy good takedown defense, and Fortune will be giving up 4 inches in height here, but when picking dogs I don’t mind going to the heavier weight classes where one punch can change the fight.
Bogdan Guskov
Ankalaev is a very solid fighter, but he has not had a finish in a fight since he fought Johnny Walker, beat Pereira for the title when he was sick and hurt going into the fight and then got beat badly in the rematch, so he is not some boogeyman in the division or anything. Guskov is taking this on short notice, so he will more than likely need to get a finish early as him going 25 minutes and staying competitive is not probable, but let’s take a risk on the underdog who has good finishing power.
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