Jim Thomson 
UFC Fight Night 172
Fight Island Round Two.
HERE IT IS, the second fight card on Fight Island in less than a week. Saturday, we witnessed the first-ever fight card in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and it did not disappoint. Dana White said that the Island would produce never-ending fights, and he was not joking. There is a list of upcoming fight cards that get better and better as they go on. Tonight im here to give you my top three favorite DFS and Sports betting picks for the second fight card on UFC Fight Island. Let’s get started and get ready for Fight Island Round Two, UFC Fight Night 172, Wednesday, July 15, 2020.
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MY MMA VALUE TARGET:
Molly “Meatball” McCann (DK 8200) (FD $14) (-140) vs. Taila Santos (DK 8000) (FD $15) (+110).
This is one of my top three favorite fights of the night simply because there is a meatball involved. Obviously, I am just kidding. Molly “Meatball” McCann has been on a warpath in her previous three fights. All three of those fights have ended in a unanimous decision win on her behalf. Meatball is a rare breed of an opponent. She will force her way through the center of the octagon, taking punch after punch, showing no sign of letting up, and bulldozing into her opposition. While she is forcing her opponent away, she forces her hand into her opponent’s face; she has landed an AVERAGE of 110 significant strikes per fight in her last three DECISION wins. On Draftkings, she has produced an impressive 104, 100, and 126 fantasy points in those three bouts.
Many may not know who her opponent is (Taila Santos), but I will gladly elaborate. Taila currently has no wins while fighting in the UFC, she lost her debut fight to Mara Romero Borella, in what was an “okay” fight. In her debut, she was gassed relatively quickly. Santos kept grappling over and over again until she had no fuel left in her tank. She is a Mui Tai kickboxer. To compete and win this fight, she needs to keep this fight to a kickboxing match. I do not believe that she will be able to do that. She will get sucked in by Molly’s grappling and then destroyed by her heavy hands. My original prediction was McCann to win a decision, but now I am leaning McCann to win by TKO in the second round.
MY UFC DFS PICK: Molly “Meatball” McCann (DK 8200) (FD $14) (-140) SECOND ROUND TKO.
MY MMA LOCKED IN TARGET:
Khamzat Chimaev (DK 8900) (FD $18) (-340) vs. John Phillips (DK 7300) (FD $13) (+260).
John Phillips is purely a boxer. Everything that he relies on comes from his hands. He has every intention on forcing his way into his opponent and trying to put his fist through his enemy’s face. When Phillips is unable to do that and have his way, he tends to get overwhelmed and does things out of the ordinary, which can get him caught in bad situations. Phillips Tendencies can get him into trouble here, especially against a fighter like Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev is undefeated as a professional fighter and is making his UFC debut. Khamzat is a champion wrestler with a long list of grappling abilities, but he is not only a wrestler. When watching him fight, his striking skills mixed with his wrestling abilities is very impressive. For a fighter with only six professional fights, his stand up game looks as if he has been a professional for many years. His stance and overall game planning is very technical, slowly watching his opponent, and waiting for any minor mistake for him to capitalize on. In this fight, I predict Phillips to get frustrated relatively quickly and put himself into a bad spot, where Chimaev will capitalize with a first-round TKO.
MY UFC DFS PICK: Khamzat Chimaev (DK 8900) (FD $18) (-340) FIRST ROUND TKO.
MY MMA TOP SCORING TARGET:
Aaron Phillips (DK 6800) (FD $10) (+475) vs. Jack Shore (DK 9400) (FD $20) (-750) .
This is by far my favorite play of the night and the one I am the most confident in. Phillips has a record of 12-3 as a professional fighter and making his UFC debut. Phillips is a very standard black and white fighter with weak takedown defense and lacks the skill to escalate at the current time, in my opinion.
Jack Shore currently has one win and no losses in the UFC. In the majority of Shore’s fights, he wins them by using his grappling and jiu-jitsu to his advantage. This is another fighter like Chimaev, who looks as if he has been in the UFC for multiple years when really he is only fighting in his second UFC fight. Shore wants his opponents on the mat; whether it be ground and pound or ground and pound into submission, he feels that he has the upper hand when fighting on the mat, and I feel the same way. I predict Shore to come out and dominate Aaron Phillips en route to a first-round submission victory.
MY UFC DFS PICK: Jack Shore (DK 9400) (FD $20) (-750) FIRST ROUND SUBMISSION.
MMA HONORABLE MENTION:
CALVIN KATTAR (-310) (DK 9100) (FD $22)
LERONE MURPHY (+130) (DK 7400) (FD $14)
CHRIS FISHGOLD (+115) (DK 7900) (FD $15)
MOUNIR LAZZEZ (GPP ONLY) (+260) (DK 7000) (FD $12)
SUMMARY:
On Wednesday’s 11 bout MMA UFC DFS slate, I will be building 10 GPP lineups. I will be focusing on the three targets listed in my article to be a part of about 75 percent of my lineups. Always remember the more rounds in a fight, the higher the fantasy score could be. This slate is very tough to predict a winner and all fights are pretty close in skillset. I will use a hedging technique on the fights that are closer in odds. I’m focusing on building a GPP winning lineup.
I’m building lineups that can variate from the field and taking bigger risks tonight. I will use my core (fighters above) to be a staple in my DFS lineups, and I will build around them with the available salary. 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 or you can find me on Twitter @JThomsonDFS. GOOD LUCK and don’t forget to come back and Win Daily!
