UFC 187 will take place tonight from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and the fight card will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT with three preliminary bout on Fight Pass before the televised preliminary card begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Fox Sports 1.
The main card on pay-per-view will begin at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and will he headlined by a title fight as Anthony Johnson meets Daniel Cormier for the vacant light heavyweight title.
Take a look at my Draft Kings preview and recommended lineup for today’s event.
(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.)
Chris Weidman, $11,400 vs Vitor Belfort
It’s been a while since we’ve seen either of the two middleweights. Belfort’s hands demand respect, but Chris Weidman has established himself as one of the best fighters on the planet that has well-rounded and has an incredible ability to improve as a fighter at fast rate. Expect for Weidman to look better than we’ve seen him before at UFC 187, and expect a finish.
Daniel Cormier, $10,100 vs Anthony Johnson
Being a slight underdog, there’s certainly value in taking Anthony Johnson here. He looked like an elite light heavyweight in his last fight against Alexander Gustafsson, showcasing great speed and power in his hands. Prior to that against Nogueira and Davis, Johnson’s shown that same speed and power as well as solid wrestling defense. Still, I like Cormier in this fight. Cormier has had a longer history of being an elite level fighter, and he has the wrestle to topple Johnson’s defense.
Donald Cerrone, $11,200 vs John Makdessi
Two things that you can presume about Cerrone: he won’t underestimate his opponent and his fights will have action. Given those two assumptions, and the talent gap between Cerrone and Makdessi at this point, put money on Cowboy.
Mike Pyle, $8,700 and Leo Kuntz, $8,400
It’s never ideal to take two sub-9,000 guys on one squad, but the nature of this card having so many heavy favorites practically requires that. The thought process between these two picks is taking underdogs against highly touted but still unknown prospects in Colby Covington and Islam Makhachev. There’s a clear difference between Pyle and Kuntz in that Pyle is a known commodity while Kuntz isn’t, but on a card like this, I’ll place the underdog money in these types of match-ups.
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
