UFC Fight Night 72 will take place today from the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland and the fight card will begin at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT with two preliminary bout on Fight Pass before the televised preliminary card begins at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT on FOX Sports 1.
The main card on FOX Sports 1 will begin at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT and will he headlined by a middleweight bout as Michael Bisping meets Thales Leites.
Take a look at my Draft Kings preview and recommended lineup for tonight’s event.
Michael Bisping ($9,800) vs. Thales Leites
In a main event bout that sees both fighters coming at under $10,000 in value, I’m taking Bisping. Sure, Bisping is towards the end of his career at age 36 and having lost two of his last four, and sure, Thales Leites is presently peaking with an eight fight win streak. Both of those observations are true, but Bisping is still the pick because he has a superior striking game to Leites as well as a above average takedown defense. Michael Bisping should be able to control where the fight plays out and that should lead to his first back-to-back victory since 2011.
Joanne Calderwood ($10,800) vs. Cortney Casey
In her UFC debut, it’s a tough ask for Cortney Casey to beat Joanne Calderwood. Casey’s shown nice skill development on a fight-to-fight basis since starting her career off in XFC, and there’s potential for her to be a solid UFC fighter down the line. For now, she’s on the wrong side of a match-up against a lethal striker that is probably insanely motivated to get a victory after losing convincingly for the first time in her career. Expect a bounce-back outing from Calderwood.
Robert Whiteford ($10,000) vs. Paul Redmond
Simply put, this is a tough card for a Draft Kings line-up given how close a lot of these fights are and how the identity of the majority of the fighters on this card is still shaping. Whiteford made his way into the line-up because he should be able to initiate contact first and use his strength to beat up and control Redmond en route to a victory.
Jimmie Rivera ($9,800) and Chris de la Rocha ($9,300)
The rest of my salary goes to two debuting fighters on the card both valued under 10,000. Rivera takes on a skilled opponent in Marcus Brimage that should give him plenty of trouble – especially standing. What Rivera has showed since being on The Ultimate Fighter is a more developed, UFC-ready game. He has more tools to play with and should be able to get a close win against Brimage. As for de la Rocha, the thinking with the pick is taking the slight underdog in a near pick-em heavyweight fight between two currently below average heavyweights.
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
