Allan Fabrykant UFC Vegas 67
IMAVOV V STRICKLAND
Wow! It’s been nearly a month since we’ve had any UFC action and today we are finally back in Vegas for UFC Vegas 67. Of note, due to an injury to Gastelum, Strickland is coming in on short notice to headline his second card in a row after a questionable loss in UFC Vegas 66 last year. Today’s action will kick off at 4:00 PM ET. Read more below to find out my takes on tonight’s matchups! Tonight there will be 11 fights that will end with two fighters getting a chance at a title shot in the middleweight division. Now, let’s get right into the action!
SLATE STARTS AT 4:00 PM ET
Exposure to the main event is recommended. DFS production in these fights is usually high as they are five-round fights. I do not recommend branching away from the Main Event, as these fighters are both very active and can rack up a lot of points. There will be three top plays followed by honorable mentions. Now let’s get ready to make some money!
Tonight I’m here to give you my top three favorite DFS and Sports betting picks for UFC Vegas 67 Imavov vs Strickland.
MY UFC VALUE TARGET (CASH&GPP):
Claudio Ribero vs Abdul Razak Alhassan
Starting off the article, we have two heavy hitters in Ribero and Alhassan. They’re both in two very different times in their careers, with Ribero on a 6-fight winning streak and making his UFC debut after a very impressive first-round knockout on the Dana White Contender Series, while Alhassan has lost 4 of his last five fights, including three of which he came in as the favourite. The bookmakers have this one as a pick’em, but I think the mental factor will be huge in this fight. Even though it’s Ribero’s debut, I think he’s in a far better headspace than Alhassan, and skill-wise, Ribero is faster and packs a lot of power in his left hook. Ribero will have to keep an eye on any kicks, but I think that if he controls Alhassan’s range early, this fight will end before the first bell.
MY UFC DFS PICK: Claudio Ribero FIRST-ROUND KO
MY UFC LOCKED-IN TARGET (CASH):
Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos
After an impressive performance in the last UFC card by Said Nurmagomedov, we are back for the first card of the year with another Nurmagomedov, the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. Barcelos will be Umar’s toughest challenge, there is definitely no doubt about that, but it’s also fair to say that this is not the same Barcelos that beat Said Nurmagomedov back in 2019, at 35 years of age and having lost two of his last three fights, Barcelos is definitely entering into a rough patch in his career. On the other side of the fight, Umar has picked up three UFC wins, two of which came by Rear Naked Choke, meaning he now has six RNC finishes in his career. Umar’s grappling skill set is definitely not as refined as his coach and cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov, but fundamentally, Umar is a strong grappler who will only improve with time. On top of that, Nurmagomedov has some nasty kicks that can also make the difference in a fight before his grappling even comes into play. One final note on Khabib is that he will be ringside for Umar, directing him on how to put the fight away so as we have seen in the past, those ringside instructions can prove vital in fights as well (i.e. Makachev’s Kimura finish against Dan Hooker). The bottom line is that even though Barcelos is a BJJ black belt, Umar’s grappling is at a higher level, and I also believe that age and longevity will play a factor here. With that being said, I expect Umar to put Barcelos away in the first or second round. (There is a risk that Nurmagomedov controls the fight for the full 15 in a similar fashion to what he did against Maness, and that might hurt his DFS value)
MY UFC DFS PICK: Umar Nurmagomedov FIRST-ROUND SUBMISSION.
MY UFC TOP SCORING TARGET (GPP):
Punahele Soriano vs. Roman Kopylov
For the last pick of the article, we have two knockout artists going at it in a 15-minute fight that will almost certainly not last for 15 minutes. Both fighters are 9-2-0 and coming off big knockout wins to break two-fight losing streaks. Although, that is where the similarities begin to drift apart as Puna does carry two more UFC wins under his belt, has way more first-round finishes and overall, has had a stronger opponent history. Statistically, Soriano holds a better Strikes landed per minute (SLpM) rate and a better Strikes absorbed per minute (SApM) rate while also holding a higher takedown rate per 15 than Kopylov in UFC Competition. Soriano also has a nasty left hook and I see him carrying more power in his shots than Kopylov while also being more accurate with his strikes. Overall, I think that with the power on either side of this fight, it will end quickly, and I have also seen enough out of Soriano to believe that he has a decided advantage coming into tonight’s fight. Along with his teammate Dan Ige, I think Xtreme Couture will be very well represented on tonight’s card!
MY UFC DFS PICK: Punahele Soriano FIRST-ROUND KO.
UFC HONORABLE MENTIONS:
(Not in order)
Sean Strickland 5 ROUNDER
Dan Ige (Damon Jackson has good value as a dog on Daily Fantasy)
Ketlen Vieira (Decision)
Javid Bashrat (This guy is legit, he’s a very well rounded MMA fighter and I’m expecting a big performance from him today)
Mateusz Rebecki (By Knockout, Fiore has one of the most padded records I’ve ever seen, and he’s only 6-0-0. He only has two wins against guys with winning records, and one of them was 15-13-0, and his first two pro wins came against Jay Ellis… yes, the guy with the 16-106-0 record that also beat Gerald Meerschaert back in 2007)
Allan Nascimento
Daniel Argueta (Aguirre can make the fight competitive if it turns into a grappling heavy fight, but if it stays on the feet Argueta will have a clear advantage)
Jimmy Flick (Jimmy will need to bring this fight to the ground if he wants to win, he has no clear path to victory in standup)
SUMMARY:
On Saturday’s fourteen-bout MMA UFC DFS slate, I will not be building any UFC Parlays, due to recent events involving suspicious betting patterns in a recent UFC fight. Remember, to take down a GPP; you have to be different and take risks. Scared money doesn’t make money in tournaments. For any further questions, I will be available until lock in our WinDaily Discord chat. GOOD LUCK, and don’t forget to come back and Win Daily!
PARLAY OF THE DAY
Rebecki -800
Nurmagomedov -1000
Bashrat -340
MonkeyKnifeFight: Knockout Kings!
Below I have listed my top three plays for MKF’s Knockout Kings Contest!
