UFC Vegas 61 kicks off this weekend at the UFC Apex Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The prelims begin at 4pm est and features a matchup of veterans when Ilir Latifi gets in the cage against Aleksei Oleinik. The main card will follow starting at 7pm est and features a strawweight fight between Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan.
Brendan Allen VS Krzysztof Jotko
This fight is close! This fight has GPP all over it! Allen is coming in at $7,900 on DraftKings. The grappling is in Allen's favor but the pace is not fast at all in the cage. Jotko should be able to control this fight in his favor which is what I am loving. Jotko has the edge in striking and I think is better at grappling compared to Allen. I am all over Jotko at $8,300 on Draftkings which makes him a core piece of mine.
John Castañeda VS Daniel Santos
This is an interesting fight. Santos is coming off a bad loss where he looked all over the place. Castaneda is the much better fighter in all calibers. Santos I don't think will be able to out class Castaneda on the feet. Castaneda all around has the tools to win this fight. I am keeping this short and sweet by playing Castaneda at $8,800 as a pivot from high 9k options!
Aleksei Oleinik VS Ilir Latifi
The legend is back in the cage! Oleinik has been in the cage forever and is still getting a submission win last fight. Latifi is a physical size down compared to other fighters in this division. Oleinik can certainly win this fight and pull off a submission at any moment in time. I don't trust Latifi at all and think Oleinik at his price tag is a monster value. Oleinik coming in at $7,500 can pay off in a huge way if he can earn a submission win.
Mackenzie Dern VS Xiaonan Yan
The Main Event! Dern is a grappler while Yan is the striker. This is going to be a huge clash of styles in this fight. Dern can certainly shoot for the takedown exploiting Yan's lack of self-defense. Yan has good wins on her record but the takedown defense that scares me. Yan is going to want to keep this fight on the feet and explode with strikes. I am liking Dern to earn this win on the mat ending this in submission win and a great $9,100 option on DraftKings.
