UFC Fight Night Belem Daily Fantasy Picks

And the streak of weekly UFC events continues this Saturday, this time in Belem, Brazil. Could this be the retirement fight for Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida? Could this be the next step in Valentina “The Bullet” Schevchenko’s path to the flyweight championship? We shall see.

The main event starts at 10pm eastern live and free on Fox Sports 1, while the prelim fights start on 8pm on Fox Sports 2. The Fight Pass early prelims start at 7pm.

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.

Value Picks

• Anthony Smith ($7,00) is the second cheapest fighter on the card, mainly due to the fact that he’s facing the hard hitting (and far more experienced) Thiago Santos. However, not only does Smith pack power in his hands as well, he has sneaky good grappling game. Is Santos the favorite? Yes, and with good reason. But a fighter with a $7K price tag and several legitimate paths to a stoppage is hard to pass up.
• Deiveson Figueiredo is fighting in his hometown, but I can’t pick him this weekend. While he does have an oddly effective grappling game, he rarely throws while on the feet and rarely shoots for takedowns. His opponent, Joseph Morales ($7,800) is your prototypical Team Alpha Male fighter – strong wrestling with pop in his right hand. The matchup definitely favors the the undefeated TAM fighter, even if the price tag doesn’t reflect that.

Avoid

• Michael Prazeres ($8,600) looks like a bodybuilder, and in MMA speak that means he gasses in fights. While he is usually successful at dragging his opponent to the mat, his opponent, Desmond Green, is no slouch in the wrestling department. On top of that, Green is a fast and strong athlete who has developed a legitimate outfighting game. Look for the American to run circles around Prazeres, meaning avoid that price tag at all costs.
• I’ve been burned by John Dodson ($8,500) before, and I refuse to have that happen again. While he is incredibly physically gifted, and should handily win this fight, he tends to be his own worst enemy. Until he can get out of his own way and stop making mind-boggling in fight decisions he’ll remain in the “avoid” section of these posts.