UFC on ABC 2.
VETTORI v HOLLAND
We’re back with another UFC event in Vegas this year! In this article, we will break down Saturday night’s UFC on ABC 2 slate! We’ve had a great start to UFC in 2021. Let’s make sure it continues! We have a nice-sized card ahead of us, with currently 13 scheduled fights to take place. Make sure to check in the chat regularly to ensure you don’t have any postponed fights in your lineups. The main event is again between two Middleweight fighters on a short notice matchup, Marvin Vettori and BIG MOUTH Kevin Holland (filling in for the injured Darren Till), who are competing for a top spot in the UFC Middleweight Rankings. Holland can use this opportunity to gain momentum after losing to Derek Brunson in what ended up being a pretty boring fight less than a month ago (aside from Holland’s commentary). Holland was the better fighter in that matchup, but his reckless style and incessant talking cost him the win that night. I am sure that tonight many people will look past him after the last fight, but Holland himself will come in more measured and take the fight to Vettori, a well-accomplished fighter in his own right (Hard Striker with some BJJ accolades).
A little warning about Holland. As I said in Holland’s last fight vs Brunson. Uncle Dana bestowed the nickname “big mouth” on Holland after the first time he saw him fight on the contender series. Holland wouldn’t stop talking to his opponent and to Dana. This is something we have to keep in mind as his style is very distracting to other fighters which allows him to take bigger risks. That doesn’t change the fact that he attempts some very risky maneuvers so be cautious when playing him. (ie taking Jacare Souza AND Derek Brunson to the ground, we have now seen the positives and the negatives of Holland’s fight style)
SLATE STARTS AT 11:30 AM EST
Exposure to the main event IS high recommended mandatory. DFS production in this fight will be high as it is a five-round fight between two high output fighters. I’m definitely not against branching away from the Main Event. 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 Mention category. My Main Event target will be a top play. Now let’s get ready to make some money!
We will have separate value plays for each site since both sites have been slow on adding different fights to the slate.
Tonight I’m here to give you my top three favorite DFS and Sports betting picks for UFC Vegas 23, Vettori v Holland.
MY UFC VALUE TARGET (CASH&GPP):
Nina Nunes (-160) (DK 8300) (FD $16) vs. Mackenzie Dern (+130) (DK 7900) (FD $16).
Wow, honestly, I was a little shocked to see the odds on this fight as close as they are. Nina is not as good as her wife. There is no question. On top of that, Nina hasn’t fought since 2019 and hasn’t won since 2018. On the other hand, Mackenzie has remained extremely active and added on to her 10-1 record three times in 2020. Although her last win was very close, her UFC record doesn’t ask how, only how many. Her other two wins in 2020 were flawless, and rest assured if this fight ends up on the ground, Nina (purple belt) will have no chance, Dern is an ELITE BJJ (black belt doesn’t even begin to describe her star-studded BJJ resume, too much to cover here) artist and I don’t see this one lasting very long either. Dern’s only loss came after her first fight back from pregnancy against a really tough opponent in Amanda Ribas. Similarly, this is Nina’s first fight back following her pregnancy in March 2020 against a tough opponent…
MY UFC DFS PICK: Mackenzie Dern (+130) (DK 7900) (FD $16). ROUND ONE SUBMISSION (possible ROUND TWO SUBMISSION).
MY UFC LOCKED-IN TARGET (CASH):
Scott Holtzman (+225) (DK 7000) (FD $10) vs. Mateusz Gamrot (-275) (DK 9200) (FD $20).
In this matchup, the UFC will be looking to get their star signing back on track after a questionable loss to a formidable opponent (Guram Kutateladze) to begin his UFC career. Polish UFC fans know Mateusz as their next big superstar, and it’s not hard to understand why. In Poland, Gamrot amassed a 17-0 record and became the two-division KSW champion before signing to the UFC. There’s only one word to describe his Polish fights, Dominant. When he finally came stateside, he received plaudits from Polish Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz and Polish former Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk as “Poland’s Next Champion.” Trust me; these two know what they’re talking about. In his first UFC performance, he put in three solid rounds, and despite the loss, he put up fantastic numbers with 52 sig strikes and 5 takedowns over three rounds. His opponent Scott Holtzman is somewhat of a UFC journeyman, having fought in 11 UFC fights coming into tonight. He has struggled to find any consistency in the UFC, going 7-4 in the organization. His UFC stats are ok, nothing special, and he does get taken down a little too often (not a good sign against a strong grappler like Gamrot). Tonight, Gamer will get the job done. The only real question is how he’ll decide to do it.
MY UFC DFS PICK: Mateusz Gamrot (-275) (DK 9200) (FD $20) SECOND ROUND SUBMISSION (possible SECOND ROUND TKO).
MY UFC TOP SCORING TARGET (GPP):
Sam Alvey (+162) (DK 7200) (FD $10) vs. Julian Marquez (-188) (DK 9000) (FD $19).
After calling out Miley Cyrus following his win two months ago against Maki Pitolo, the UFC decided to match him up with Smilin’ Sam Alvey instead. Now despite Sam’s long UFC tenure, this fight is a pretty big mismatch. There is so much to say; let’s start with the fact that Alvey is on a pretty bad losing streak right now, four fights to be exact, not including his split decision draw against Da Jung Un last year. Alvey hasn’t actually won a fight since 2018, and I think it’s safe to predict that when Alvey does lose, the UFC will finally have the excuse they needed to kick Alvey to the curb. To his credit, Alvey is a brawler and won’t quick until the pulp has literally been beaten out of him and has been able to stay in the UFC for 20 bouts, coming into tonight with a 10-9-1 record. Stats wise though, Alvey will be completely out of his element. From what we’ve seen out of Marquez, he’ll get it done in whatever way he can. In his UFC (and DWCS) career, he’s had three impressive wins and a split decision loss where he performed well. This fight will be a great opportunity for Marquez to get the statement win that he’s been seeking to spark his hype train. Stats wise, he’ll always be looking for the submission as we saw last fight where he attempted three submissions before locking in his fourth and final submission, which was the anaconda choke that ended the fight. Still, Marquez can always stand and bang if need be with pretty high output over his four fights.
MY UFC DFS PICK: Julian Marquez (-188) (DK 9000) (FD $19) FIRST-ROUND TKO (possible SECOND-ROUND SUBMISSION).
UFC HONORABLE MENTION:
(In order of preference)
Kevin Holland GPP +275 (DK 6600) (FD $17) (Marvin Vettori works too)
Luis Saldana -138 (DK 8600) (FD $18) (Jordan Griffin GPP)
Jack Shore -170 (DK 8000) (FD $18)
Joe Solecki -250 (DK 9100) (FD $20) (Jim Miller GPP, fight would be closer if Jim was younger)
Sodiq Yusuff -150 (DK 8500) (FD $18) (Arnold Allen works too, both are really interesting prospects, this one is gonna be a banger, possible FoTN)
Ignacio Bahamondes -188 (DK 8900) (FD $19) (I’m really high on this kid but he struggled a bit in the weigh-ins which pushed him off my top article picks, he should still get the job done, John Makdessi GPP)
Daniel Rodriguez -150 (DK 8800) (FD $19) (Wasn’t the best last fight, but it’s generally understood that he got robbed by the judges. His opponent wasn’t that great in his last fight, where he missed weight badly and has been a bit controversial, to say the least. Given that he made weight and seems to be taking this fight seriously, he could put up some points though for a GPP with his high striking output, Mike Perry GPP)
Yorgan De Castro -334 (DK 9400) (FD $21) (generally fading this one) (Jarjis Danho works as a GPP play since De Castro is nothing special, but this should be a quick fight)
Sasha Palatnikov GPP (REALLY RISKY) +240 (DK 6700) (FD $8) (Impa Kasangany is good too, but he hasn’t fought since that brutal KO against Joaquin Buckley, which was his first career loss, Sasha is coming off a huge underdog win where he stole Louis Cosce’s undefeated record with a strong comeback performance. So we have an interesting matchup with fighters who are coming out of similar matchup scenarios but are coming off the opposite sides of them)
William Knight +110 (DK 7800) (FD $18) (Da-Un Jung GPP) (generally fading this one)
SUMMARY:
On Saturday’s fourteen bout MMA UFC DFS slate, I will be building 5 GPP lineups. I will be focusing on the three targets and my honorable mention fighters listed in my article to be a part of about 75 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!