UFC 266.
VOLKANOVSKI VS ORTEGA
I hope you were able to do well off of the last article, I saw a lot of good success in the chat, let’s hope for more success again tonight. Tonight, we have a slate that starts at 6:00 PM EST and has 13 action-packed fights including 3 five-round fights!! For one of the most anticipated cards of the year! So let’s get right into the action!
SLATE STARTS AT 6:00 PM EST
Exposure to the main event is recommended. DFS production in these fights will usually be high as they are five-round fights but this fight is not between two high output fighters. I will not be branching away from the Main Event for my lines. There will be three top plays followed by honorable mentions. The Main Event WILL NOT be featured as one of my top three plays (Top Value Play, Locked In-Play, or Top Scoring Play) but WILL be featured in my Honorable Mentions category. 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 266 Volkanovski v Ortega.
MY UFC VALUE TARGET (CASH&GPP):
Jonathan Pearce (+130) (DK 7700) (FD $13) vs. Omar Morales (-160) (DK 8500) (FD $17).
Both fighters have good experience under their belt and both have had Bellator experience before finding success on the DWCS. Since then he had a very questionable loss to Joe Lauzon (which has soured him in the eyes of many) and a very impressive win against a middle of the road opponent in Kai Kamaka. This matchup is a step up for Pearce as he has never faced anyone with the striking pedigree of Omar Morales. Frankly, Pearce is a much higher volume striker than Morales, holding an 8.80 SLpM to Morales’ 3.66 SLpM and although Pearce does leave himself open to shots sometimes, as Kai Kamaka found out, its really hard to keep up with Pearce’s striking output. The other area where Pearce holds a decided advantage over Morales is on the ground and if Pearce is able to bring Morales into his world and neutralize the kicks, this is Pearce’s fight to win. Given that Pearce has a 90% finish rate, I think he’ll be able to do it inside the distance as well.
MY UFC DFS PICK: Jonathan Pearce (+130) (DK 7700) (FD $13). SECOND ROUND TKO. (Possible Unanimous Decision)
MY UFC LOCKED-IN TARGET (CASH):
Matt Semelsberger (-500) (DK 9400) (FD $22) vs. Martin Sano (+380) (DK 6800) (FD $8).
Ok, so the only reason why Sano is on this card or even in the UFC for that matter is because of Nick Diaz. Essentially, Nick Diaz said he wouldn’t come back unless Sano was on the card. There is no other reason why Sano would be in the UFC, much less against talented competition such as Semi. Sano is 4-2-1 in his career, going 0-2-1 in his last three fights, the last one of which was in 2017!! This will not be a competitive fight and Semi the Jedi should be taking care of business fairly quickly here. His price is high but that is fairly expected considering what a joke of a matchup this is…
MY UFC DFS PICK: Matt Semelsberger (-500) (DK 9400) (FD $22) FIRST ROUND TKO (possible SECOND ROUND TKO).
MY UFC TOP SCORING TARGET (GPP):
Valentina Shevchenko (-1400) (DK 9500) (FD $23) vs. Lauren Murphy (+800) (DK 6700) (FD $10).
Now, what I am about to say doesn’t negate the fact that Lauren Murphy has earned this title shot, she has. She has won her last five fights, against decent competition but none of her five wins will even come close to comparing to the fight she’ll be in tonight against the champ, Bullet Valentina. Valentina is the more talented fighter in every way shape and form and Murphy truly has no chance tonight. Murphy is a very sloppy fighter and often leaves herself open to damaging attacks, this will be fully exploited by Shevchenko and I do not see this fight lasting long at all. I don’t usually do this but I will have Shevchenko in most if not all of my captain spots on FanDuel. There is no way to stress this further, you need Shevchenko in the vast majority of your lineups tonight and if you’re only running one line, you gotta have her in there.
MY UFC DFS PICK: Valentina Shevchenko (-1400) (DK 9500) (FD $23) FIRST ROUND TKO.
UFC HONORABLE MENTIONS:
(Not in order)
Brian Ortega (5 ROUNDER) +150 (DK 7600) (FD $16) (As far as title matchups go, this is one of the closer ones in the UFC. Volk did well against Holloway considering that Holloway is one of the best strikers in the history of the sport but both of Volkanovski’s wins were questionable, especially the second one in my opinion. With Ortega on the other hand, he was pretty soundly defeated by Holloway, the only blemish on an otherwise unbeaten record. Then in his next fight, he comes out and absolutely starches the Korean Zombie for five straight rounds, a good striker in his own right. Volkanovski is a very well rounded fighter and can compete in all aspects of MMA whereas Ortega excels particularly well at a lot of aspects such as BJJ (Ortega has a 1st Degree Black Belt under Rener Gracie whereas Volkanovski has a Brown Belt). The deciding factor will be whether or not Ortega can dictate the fight. Its clear that Volko will have to rely heavily on the kicks to limit Ortega’s mobility because if Ortega can dictate the pace of the fight and where the fight takes place Volko is in serious trouble. I like a lot of what I’ve been seeing out of Ortega as of late and because of that I am definitely comfortable taking the underdog in this five round title fight. This is a close fight so I definitely understand taking Volk to retain the belt, but I see this one going the other way.)
Robby Lawler (5 ROUNDER) -150 (DK 8300) (FD $16) (Despite the fact that this whole card was built around Nick Diaz, it just doesn’t seem like his head is in the game and that’s very dangerous in the top level of professional MMA. Diaz’s moneyline fell dramatically as the week went on. Regardless of this Diaz hasn’t fought in over five years and hasn’t won since 2011. Now, this is definitely not against the old Bobby Violence that Diaz fought in their first matchup back in 2004 [UFC 47!!!] but Bobby is coming into this as the fresher fighter having fought last year and this is a five rounder so given that Nick has looked like he has become less “in-shape” over the last year and doesn’t look like his head is in the right space, we have to take Lawler on this one.)
Nick Maximov -138 (DK 8000) (FD $18) (Stellar BJJ Pedigree, like Martin Sano, he is on this card because he is friends with Nick Diaz. Unlike Sano, he actually deserves it. Brundage is a good matchup for him but Brundage is coming in on short notice and will most likely get submitted. Maximov was also able to take down Oscar Cota twice in his DWCS fight which was at heavyweight, despite the near 60 lbs weight difference between the two. This fight is at middleweight and Maximov should have a much easier time bringing Brundage down. This is however a closer fight for Maximov when compared to his previous opponent Karl Roberson.)
Uros Medic -125 (DK 8400) (FD $15) (This was a tough call as we have two great up and comers, it’s because of that why Medic is so affordable, under many other circumstances he wouldn’t be. I think Turner has a bright future in the UFC but Medic is a monster with a 100% finish rate and a 7-0-0 record and he has only made it to the second round once in his entire career. This is gonna be an interesting one, I may have shares of both [in different lines] but I am definitely favouring the Serbian. Again, keep in mind that after this matchup, you most likely wont see Medic this cheap ever again…)
Taila Santos -400 (DK 9300) (FD $21) (Fade Overall, Roxy is a legend and one of the Pioneers of women’s MMA but she’s outmatched in this one)
Chris Daukaus -200 (DK 8800) (FD $19) (His opponent hasn’t fought since 2019, whereas Daukaus has had three fights [all 1st RD KOs] in that time. Daukaus’ quick rise has already shown us his deadly KO power and as we have seen that throughout Abdurakhimov’s career, he hasn’t really handle that style, especially as of late. I see Daukaus getting an early KO, similar to his fight against Oleinik.)
Nasrat Haqparast GPP +137 (DK 7500) (FD $14) (Risky as this is Haqparast’s first real test within the organization against a much more seasoned fighter in Hooker. Haqparast has a solid striking game but his wrestling and BJJ leave a lot to be desired. Luckily Hooker is not great on the ground and I foresee a classic stand-and-bang fight in this matchup. Haqparast will have to watch Hookers knees and avoid being on the back foot early as neither of these two are good counter punchers but Haqparast has a higher SLpM and a lower SApM, given that increased striking volume, I’m taking the dog Haqparast in this one, but if you decide to go with Hooker, I understand where you’re coming from.)
Merab Dvalishvili -250 (DK 8900) (FD $21) (Fighters going in opposite directions in their careers Moraes, the former title challenger, is on his way down while the Georgian Dvalishvili has won his last six fights all in the UFC, I see a clear decision win here from Dvalishvili.)
Curtis Blaydes -300 (DK 9200) (FD $14) (Jairzinho has heavy hands and as we saw in Blaydes’ last fight against Derrick Lewis, one clean hit can end it all. That being said if Curtis sticks to his gameplan and takes Jairzinho down, the fight will basically be over and Blaydes will cruise to a win, probably not the best for DFS purposes, especially at Blaydes’ price.)
Jessica Andrade -250 (DK 9000) (FD $20) (Andrade just overmatches Calvillo, probably a clean decision win for Andrade, not my favourite fight of the night. I will most likely Fade it.)
SUMMARY:
On Saturday’s fourteen-bout MMA UFC DFS slate, I will be building 7 GPP lineups. I will be focusing on the three targets and my honorable mention fighters listed in my article to be a part of 99.9 percent of my lineups. Some fights in this slate are tricky to predict a winner and all fights are pretty close
I’m building lineups that can variate from the field and taking bigger risks tonight. I will use my core fighters (Locked-In, Honorable Mention) to be a staple in my DFS lineups, and I will build around them using the available salary with the remainder of my predicted winners. 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!