UFC Vegas 66 FanDuel Tournament Fights To Target

The last UFC slate of the year is upon us and while it’s near the high end of fight night lineups and should be wildly entertaining, it is scary when it comes to building fantasy lineups. Most of the fights on this slate have a very clear path to victory for both fighters and that makes our job very difficult. Personally I am going to sit this card out because I don’t play multiple entries and that is the only way I can see playing this card effectively.

When it comes to ensuring your score meets the mark required to see cash from your contest wins, you will need to make sure you have equity in the highest scoring fights on the card. As usual this write up will go over the three fights that you should be paying the most attention to in your lineup builds.

Below you will see my recommended fights to target on the FanDuel slate for UFC Vegas 66. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to tweet @WeWantPicks on Twitter and they will definitely get back to you ASAP. 

 

FIGHT #1 TO TARGET (-280 FDGTD)

MICHAL OLEKSIEJCZUK ($22) vs. CODY BRUNDAGE ($9)

Coming in as the most heavily favored fight to end inside the distance we have a classic battle here between striker and wrestler. Whichever fighter is able to impose their will will likely find themselves victorious when the dust settles.

Michal Oleksiejczuk is a heavy handed striker with a granite chin and that has kept him around in many of his recent fights. He likes to stand and bang, even when it’s not to his benefit to do so. Oleksiejczuk likes to counter, which is displayed with his near even striking differential despite having a 64% striking defense. The biggest glaring hole in his game however is his takedown defense and his grappling, having been taken down in all of his UFC losses and submitted in three of his five career losses. 

Cody Brundage is a wrestler, and a pretty good one, but can be caught on the way in due to the large labored punches he uses to close distance. It is also worth noting that Brundage is taking this fight on short notice, so there may be some questions on how physically ready he is. If Cody can land his takedowns however, this fight could go south for Oleksiejczuk quickly and Cody by submission could be a favorable outcome at only $9.

For me personally, I don’t believe this fight being short notice will be as serious of a consideration as many people believe it could be. I think that at the UFC level for fighters that have been in the UFC a bit, they are generally pretty ready to go. I would prefer to play this fight on the Brundage side, but can see the merit in either play.

 

FIGHT #2 TO TARGET (-190 FDGTD)

AMIR ALBAZI ($23) vs. ALESSANDRO COSTA ($8)

This is one that we really shouldn’t complicate in my opinion. We have Amir Albazi who came out in his last fight and reminded everyone of just how good he truly is, and then we have Alessandro Costa who only has regional experience making his UFC debut on short notice.

Amir Albazi is a well-rounded martial artist who is best known for his wrestling and grappling, but is severely underrated in his striking as well. Albazi only fights about once per year for the last three years, but this will be his second fight of 2022. This is a fighter that will be worth paying attention to if he manages to keep the two or three fights a year schedule going into 2023. I am not going to waste time talking about skills and accolades, Albazi is a top ten fighter in the UFC in his weight class. Do what's right when it comes to your lineups. 

Alessandro Costa is coming from the Latin America regional scene and made his Contender Series appearance back in July. Costa appeared to struggle in that fight some, but managed to take the decision due to achieving a knockdown. His output was minimal to say the least, and his opponent did out strike him. Costa does have quite a bit of power, but this can cause him to be sloppy and load up a lot. That doesn’t work at this level of competition.

You need Albazi here, simple. If you are playing multi-entry then you could definitely have some exposure to Costa, but the play for cash and single entry is without question Albazi. Don’t overthink it.

 

FIGHT #3 TO TARGET (-110 FDGTD)

JARED CANNONIER ($18) vs. SEAN STRICKLAND ($19)

The only thing to not like about this matchup is the way that FanDuel priced it. I would feel a ton better about it if there were just a few more dollars in between the two of them. The choice here is really about finish potential versus five round volume. Whichever you think is more important should determine your choice.

Jared Cannonier is a powerful mixed martial artist who can grapple a bit, but is really a powerful striker more than anything. Cannonier has had battles in the past with strikers who have proven to be capable of large outputs, and managed to not look nearly as outclassed as expected against Israel Adesanya in his last fight in terms of technical striking.

Sean Strickland is a volume striker. He lacks true power, but has great output and is very solid defensively as well. Strickland can go for takedowns here and there, but it’s doubtful that he does so in this contest. More than likely this will be a striking battle from start to finish. Really it comes down to how safe Strickland can stay over the course of five rounds. If he can stay away from Cannonier’s power and keep himself off the bottom of any scrambles, Strickland could volume his way to a very clean decision over five rounds.  

Personally I will be on the power side this week with Cannonier, but this fight could legitimately go either way depending on how the fight plays out. You will definitely want exposure to both sides of this one.

 

GOOD LUCK THIS WEEKEND

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

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