Day 8
The UFC puts on a card in Fresno, CA this Saturday, and while it isn’t the biggest card in recent memory, there are a few intriguing debuts to be seen, as well as a main event pitting perennial contender and fan favorite Cub Swanson against the fast rising Brian Ortega.
The main card starts at 10pm on Fox Sports 1, while the prelims start at 8pm, also on Fox Sports 1. The early prelims start at 6:30pm on Fight Pass.
I use DraftKings for my UFC daily fantasy fix, so if you don’t have an account you can sign up here (and get a 50% bonus on your initial deposit). Also, you can check out the scoring criteria here.
Now let’s get down to business.
While the aforementioned Cub Swanson ($8,100) doesn’t have an easy matchup, his style lends itself to high daily fantasy totals. Ortega has finished his last three fights, but honestly, they could all be described as Hail Mary attempts. Cub does have a tendency to leave himself open to unneeded shots, but Ortega has not yet shown the level of striking to seriously make him pay. Cub finishes off the rising star in the middle rounds.
Another fan favorite also makes his return to the octagon this weekend is Justin Knight ($9,300). “Hick Diaz” has an extremely favorable matchup Gabriel Benitez, and the betting odds reflect that. Knight is going to be locking in a submission and locking you up some DFS winnings while he’s at it.
Another main card fight with a big betting odds discrepancy is Eryk Anders ($9,200) taking on Markus Perez. Perez has some skills, but Anders is the blue-chip prospect in this fight, and he’s going to lay some leather on Perez at some point and finish him off.
Benito Lopez ($8,900) is making his UFC debut against not far from his home camp of Team Alpha Male. His opponent, Alberto Morales, definitely has a chin, but not the skills to put up with the dynamic striking of the “Golden Boy”. Even if Lopez doesn’t get the finish, that flying knee of his will score you some DFS points.
Frankie Saenz ($7,700) has had a rough UFC run of late, losing three in a row. Granted those losses were to the like of Uriah Faber, Eddie Wineland, and Augusto Medes, but his wrestling is no joke. Luckily for Saenz, Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t have the wrestling chops to compete there. So long as Saenz sticks to what should be his game plan, he should rule in the clinch and on the mat and land plenty of takedowns and ground-and-pound to make that low price-tag more than worth it.
The night kicks off with the return of Antonio Braga Neto ($7,100), who hasn’t fought in over three years due to injury. In his welcome back party he gets to face Trevin Giles, who’s tendency to attempt to wrestle will only get him submitted by the BJJ master. And with that low price-tag, an early submission will be oh, so sweet.
BROEST BROS YOU KNOW 