It’s only been a week since the last edition of this column, and with March Madness in full swing, the college basketball equivalent to my picks for UFC 185 would be Grambling State.
This year, Grambling State went 2-27.
So with the dumpster fire that were my picks last week in the rear-view mirror, let’s look ahead to my recommended Draft Kings line-up for UFC Fight Night 62.
(For those that are unfamiliar with the Draft Kings format of daily MMA betting: with a cap of $50,000, the objective is to select 5 fighters – who have been allotted prices – to produce as many points as possible. The rules on how points are scored by a particular fighter can be found on the bottom of this article.)
Erick Silva ($11,900) vs. Josh Koscheck
It feels wrong picking this fight just because it doesn’t feel right at all that Koscheck – this late in his career – is making such a quick turnaround after being finished in his last fight. Koscheck would be an incredible story, but the reason that it would be an incredible story is that he’s expected to lose and to lose in violent fashion. As long as Silva doesn’t come into the fight overconfident and commits a defensive snafu, he should be to put away Koscheck early.
Demian Maia ($9,300) vs Ryan LaFlare
Given that LaFlare is on the rise of his career while Maia is on the descent, it makes sense that LaFlare is the slight favorite in the night’s main event, but I like the value on Maia here. LaFlare does an effective job of controlling opponents and may be able to do that at times against Maia, although Maia should feel more than comfortable on the ground. LaFlare hasn’t put together a finish in the UFC yet, and he hasn’t faced anyone close the caliber of Maia, even a 37-year-old Maia. Give me Maia to get win and potentially the finish in his country.
Shayna Baszler ($7,700) vs Amanda Nunes
This pick is simply a value play. My expectation for this fight is that Nunes gets the victory. Putting that expectation aside, the value is there in this pick because the disparity in talent between these two doesn’t justify Baszler being such a heavy underdog in this fight. Baszler a skilled veteran that has the capabilities of bursting the stock of Nunes – stock that I think is a bit overinflated.
Andre Fili ($11,500) vs Godofredo Pepey
There’s a lot to like about Fili as a featherweight prospect, and there’s a lot I like about his fight against Pepey. Stylistically, Fili matches up well with the Brazilian. After going 1-1 in his last two with and with that victory being a decision, I’d expect Fili to come into Brazil recharged and motivated to make an impression and return back to type of form we saw in his UFC debut.
Tony Martin ($9,500) vs Leonardo Santos
After the first four picks, there isn’t a whole lot of salary left, so I threw the rest on Tony Martin. I’m not entirely enamored with this back (and apparently, neither is Draft Kings who has both fighters valued at the same price), but in his last fight, Martin finally looked like the kind of fighter that I expected him to be in the UFC. That should continue later today.
Draft King’s MMA Scoring System
1st Round Win: 100 points
2nd Round Win: 70 points
3rd Round Win: 50 points
4th Round Win: 40 points
5th Round Win: 40 points
Decision Win: 25 points
Significant Strikes: 0.5 points
Advances: 1 point
Takedowns: 2 points
Reversal/Sweeps: 2 points
Knockdowns: 3 points