UFC Fight Night 68 will take place tonight from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana and the televised portion of the card will begin at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Fox Sports 1.
The event will be headlined by a middleweight bout as Tim Boetsch will meet former Pride and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson.
Take a look at my Draft Kings preview and recommended lineup for tonight’s event.
Dan Henderson ($9,000) vs. Tim Boetsch
Man, I don’t feel great about this pick, but on a card with a lot of close fights, there aren’t too many picks that I feel great about. Henderson has a lot of baggage. He’s 44, and he’s finally dropped a step since his prime. Still, he’s yet to lose against a guy at Boetsch’s level, and as long as he stays away from Boetsch’s power punching (okay, that’s a big ask), he should be able to out-strike Boetsch on the feet and have success with dirty boxing to earn one more victory in the UFC.
Ben Rothwell ($9,100) vs. Matt Mitrione
The fight between these two is a close heavyweight bout featuring two heavy-hitters, and my thought process when it comes to these fights is to take value on the underdog. That’s what I’m doing here with Rothwell. Matt Mitrione has shown steady improvement with his current three fight win streak. Nevertheless, Rothwell should be able to snap the streak with a powerful shot midway through the first round.
Dustin Poirier ($10,400) vs. Yancy Medeiros
Recently, Yancy Medeiros has turned a corner showcasing his physical attributes such as speed and power to piece together two finishes over Damon Jackson and Joe Proctor. While Medeiros’ stock is rising, I believe it’ll stop it’s rise against Poirier. Poirier just brings a whole lot to the table against Medeiros. Poirier is well-versed in every aspect of the game and should have success both on the feet – as long as he stays away from the power punch – and on the ground against Medeiros.
Derrick Lewis ($9,700) vs. Shawn Jordan
The thought process with this selection is similar to the one behind Rothwell and Mitrione. Lewis is the slight underdog in a close fight that may just come down to who can effectively use their power first. Jordan should be quite confident heading into this one with two straight victories, but give me Lewis and his seemingly infinite power.
Joe Proctor ($10,300) vs. Justin Edwards
Coming off three losses in his last four, Justin Edwards is going to have another difficult task in front of him in Joe Proctor. Reeling off of a loss of his own, Proctor should be more than motivated for a win, and he has the skill level and ability to finish to get the job done against Edwards. Expect Proctor to channel his inner-Lauzon against Edwards.
(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.)
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
