3 years agoComing off of a decision loss in his Octagon debut, Joanderson Brito (12-3-1) will step into the UFC cage with featherweight veteran Andre Fili on Saturday. Throughout his career, Brito has finished 10 of his 12 career wins, with six coming by submission. DraftKings sees Brito as the underdog with a salary of $6,900. In his debut, Brito scored 36.0 fantasy points. Look for this to be Brito's coming-out party, and if fantasy managers are looking for an underdog for the main card, this might be your guy.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: UFC

3 years agoWith his whole career since joining the UFC in 2013 a back-and-forth affair of victories and losses, Andre Fili (21-8) will hope Saturday can bring him a solid victory as he's set to battle Joanderson Brito. Facing many of the best featherweights, Fili has earned 12 of his 21 career victories by finish, with nine of those coming via knockout/TKO. A victory here would be a great rebound from the debacle no contest he sustained in June of last year against Daniel Pineda, which ended due to eye pokes. DraftKings sees Touchy as the big favorite with a salary of $9,300. Throughout his UFC career, Fili averages 60.7 fantasy points per contest. With the dangerous Brito looking for his first UFC win in his second Octagon appearance, this could be a tricky fight for Fili.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: UFC

3 years agoUnbeaten since joining the UFC after a victory on the Contender Series, Grant Dawson (17-1-1) earned a draw in his last outing against Ricky Glenn in October of last year. Currently, Dawson has a very strong 5-0-1 record in the Octagon. Three of those five wins have also come via the finish. Overall, 15 of his 17 career wins have come by the finish, with 11 of those by submission. Defeating foes similar to Jared Gordon in past bouts, DraftKings sees KGD as the big favorite with a salary of $8,700. Throughout his UFC career, Dawson is averaging 90.6 fantasy points per contest. The safe bet, especially at this price point, is to go ahead and start the proven finisher in Dawson.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: UFC

3 years agoLanding over five significant strikes per minute and riding a three-fight winning streak into Saturday, Samford MMA's Jared Gordon (18-4) will look to make it four in a row against Saturday's opponent, Grant Dawson. A veteran of the UFC since June 2017, Gordon has earned a 6-3 record in the Octagon. DraftKings sees Flash as the underdog with a salary of $7,500. Throughout his UFC career, Gordon averages 80.2 fantasy points per contest. Already defeating foes of similar caliber to Gordon, it's really hard to pick against Dawson in this contest.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: UFC

3 years agoCanadian featherweight Tristan Connelly (14-7) is set to make his third UFC appearance on Saturday against a fearsome and tenacious featherweight in Darren Elkins. Currently 1-1 in the UFC, Connelly is coming off of a decision loss to Pat Sabatini in April of last year. With nine of his 14 career wins coming by submission, Connelly will need to generate some of that fortune to stop a force like Elkins. DraftKings sees Connelly as the underdog with a salary of $7,600. Through his two bouts in the UFC, Connelly averages 55.9 fantasy points per contest. This is probably not the underdog pick you want to side with on Saturday in fantasy.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: UFC

3 years agoA man always willing to put on a show for the fans, Darren Elkins (26-10) will look to avenge his most-recent knockout loss when he enters the Octagon to face Tristan Connelly on Saturday night. Prior to his loss against Cub Swanson in December of last year, Elkins had won back-to-back matchups by knockout/TKO, snapping the four-fight losing streak he was on. Averaging 3.44 significant strikes landed per minute and 2.65 takedown attempts per bout, Elkins is a bit more active than his opponent. Facing a foe who will step into the Octagon as a different breed of fighter, Elkins is the favorite with a salary of $8,800. Throughout his UFC career, Elkins averages 73.9 fantasy points per contest. This might be a time when it's worth it to shell out this much in salary for Elkins.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: UFC

3 years agoPolish middleweight Krzysztof Jotko (23-5) returns to action after his decision victory in October of last year to battle Gerald Meerschaert on Saturday's main card of action. Jotko had his three-fight winning streak snapped by the streaking Sean Strickland, but rebounded nicely by grinding out a decision against Misha Cirkunov. Jotko's typical method of victory is grinding his opponent for the full 15 minutes of fight time. DraftKings sees the Polish grinder as the favorite with a salary of $8,800. Throughout his UFC career, Jotko averages 60.7 fantasy points per contest. It's not likely we see a finish here, so his price point makes it difficult to roster Jotko.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: UFC

3 years agoRiding a three-fight winning streak (all by submission) into Saturday's event, Gerald Meerschaert (34-14) will battle Poland's Krzysztof Jotko. Dangerous on the mat, Meerschaert has secured 26 of his 34 career victories by submission and an additional six by knockout/TKO. A veteran of the UFC since 2016, Meerschaert is on his first three-fight winning streak in the organization. DraftKings sees GM3 as the underdog with a salary of $7,400. Throughout his UFC career, Meerschaert averages 65.3 fantasy points per contest. Facing a grinder like Jotko, it's likely we'll see a decision here, possibly in favor of the favorite.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: UFC

3 years agoWith her five-fight winning streak coming to an end, Amanda Lemos suffered a first-round submission loss in Saturday night's main event to Jessica Andrade. Lemos was on the wrong side of history, as this was the first standing arm triangle in UFC history. Through 3:13 of action, Lemos was in control with her striking, landing seven significant strikes. Lemos should continue to have success at this weight class, so check out her future matchups and roster her based on her salary point.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoReplicating Saturday night's co-main event, which ended with a first-round submission just a touch over three minutes into the contest, Jessica Andrade did just that, but with a special touch. Andrade secured the first-ever standing arm triangle submission in UFC history. Through 3:13 of action, Andrade tallied only three significant strikes with 38 seconds of control time. Though her opponent, Amanda Lemos, was in control of the pace, Andrade picked her spot and hit the jackpot. Look for continued success out of Andrade if she stays at this weight class.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoSaturday was not the night for UFC veteran Clay Guida, who dropped the co-main event to Claudio Puelles via first-round submission. With only 3:01 of fight time, there wasn't much to speak of from a statistical standpoint. Guida landed three significant strikes (four total strikes) while missing his lone takedown try. While tied up with Puelles on the mat, Guida was locked into a kneebar and was unable to escape, leading to the tap. At 40 years old and in his 59th professional bout, you have to question how much more Guida has in the tank to compete against up-and-coming prospects, much less remain fantasy relevant.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoOn the biggest stage of his career thus far, Claudio Puelles shined in the night's co-main event by earning a first-round submission over seasoned veteran Clay Guida on Saturday night. Statistically, there isn't much to speak of with the contest only going 3:01, but Puelles collected one significant strike (11 total strikes) while maintaining 14 seconds of control time. Showing he's ready for the next level in the lightweight division, it will be interesting to see if Puelles can still pull off finishes in the next tier of arguably the organization's toughest division.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoUnable to build off of her first-round knockout win last June, Montana De La Rosa walked out of Saturday's event on the losing side of a unanimous decision against Maycee Barber. In 15 minutes of action, De La Rosa collected only 14 significant strikes (41 total strikes) and only landed one of her two takedown tries. While the bout stayed on her feet, it remained in the favor of Barber. With the loss, De La Rosa is now 2-2-1 in the Octagon. She does have finishing potential, so it's always worth checking out her opponent to see if finishing points can be collected for fantasy managers.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoIt was the striking display that guided Maycee Barber to back-to-back wins when she earned a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over Montana De La Rosa on Saturday night. In 15 minutes of action, Barber tallied 50 significant strikes (80 total strikes) while only landing one of her four takedown tries on the night. Barber looks to be back on track after her knee injury sustained during her fight with Roxanne Modafferi in January of 2020. Continue to keep an eye on Barber to see if she can score finishes to increase her fantasy output.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoNow 3-3 in the Octagon since 2019, Lando Vannata had his night come to an early end Saturday in a first-round submission loss. With only 2:32 of total action logged, it makes it difficult to get a good stat line. With that said, Vannata only tallied eight significant strikes. Vannata was floored by a big left, and upon returning to his feet, he was caught in a guillotine choke, which ended the contest. It has been a while since we have seen Vannata score big and be fantasy relevant on fight night.--Matt Bricker - RotoBallerSource: ESPN