The mixed martial arts (MMA) fantasy website Kountermove is back with another freeroll for MMAOddsBreaker.com readers. If you’re not familiar with how the site works, here’s a brief snippet from the site owners, themselves.
Kountermove brings the traditional fantasy format to MMA. Accumulation of points and a salary cap make fantasy MMA more intriguing than your basic “pick ’em” contest. With other industry pros on the site it is the place to be if you know your MMA. The game is fairly simple on its face, games are played over a single night during one event. Prior to the event, players get a total of $25,000 fantasy dollars to pick five fighters for your team. Each fighter is given a specific salary by Kountermove. Kountermove assigns a value for each fighter based on how we believe the fight will go. Points are scored if a fighter scores a finish, wins a round, lands significant strikes, knocks an opponent down, scores takedowns, secures dominant positions or attempts submissions. The more dominant your fighters’performance, the more points you’re going to score. If you score more points than your opponents, then you win the money.
To enter the free $250 tournament for MMAOddsBreaker.com readers, just click the link below: https://www.kountermove.com/join/23038-fn-37-mma-oddsbreaker-250-tourney-on-ufc-fight-night-37-gustafsson-vs-manuwa-T-free/ If you don’t have an account, don’t worry, you can create one for free, but do it quickly, spacing is limited! If you’re interested in a few pointers on potential fighters to pick, I’ll be offering my analysis and potential picks to click. In case you have your doubts, I have a very nice track record of success with the website, having won plenty since its inception. Before I get to my picks, remember that to get the best value out of your team, you have to try to get an average of $5000 per fighter with your team of five fighters and your $25,000 salary cap. That means if you want to pick a big favorite from UFC Fight Night 37 like Alexander Gustafsson ($5800), you have to balance it out by picking some underdogs that you think will perform above and beyond. Sometimes it’s not worth it to pick the overwhelming favorite. Without further ado, here are some of the picks that stand out for me: Luke Barnatt ($5300): Barnatt is still a bit rough around the edges, but at 6’6, he’s the most towering fighter in his weight class. That long length paid dividends in his last fight when he scored a very impressive finish of Andrew Craig, stopping the tough Texan for the first time in his career. Barnatt has good power, but it’s the lengthy frame and respectable takedown defense which should help him seal the deal against UFC newcomer Mats Nilsson, who’s biggest threat is on the ground with GNP and submissions. If Barnatt keeps this fight standing, he could have a hayday and even potentially finish his opponent which would score some big points. Underdog Pick of the Night Louis Gaudinot ($4700): On paper, Gaudinot should have a big advantage against Phil Harris in the opening bout of the night. Granted, some intangibles are going in Harris’ direction like the long layoff for “Good Night,” his history of injuries and the fact that he’s fighting on Harris’ home turf. That being said, Harris is a slow starter anyways so even if Gaudinot is rusty, it should cancel out. Gaudinot is much more active and aggressive on the feet and while he’s been controlled by big, powerful fighters like Tim Elliott and Johnny Bedford in the past, I don’t think Harris has those same physical characteristics and will likely have difficulty taking the bout to the canvas. It’s a decent price for a betting favorite. Fighter to Avoid Claudio Henrique da Silva ($4900): I may have originally picked da Silva on the Premium Oddscast, but the more I look at this fight, the less I like him. Da Silva has excellent grappling credentials and is the coach at London Shootfighters, but he’s 31 years old and is significantly smaller than the younger, more athletic Brad Scott. Da Silva has a chance to win this fight, but most of his bouts haven’t left the first two rounds, so he likely needs to get an early finish before potential cardio problems kick in. He also hasn’t fought in 18 months. I can see da Silva winning the first round and then getting creamed. Da Silva is a big risk if you have him on your team. Complete UFC Fight Night 37 Preview If my fantasy preview isn’t enough for you, Fight Scientist Reed Kuhn, MMA Oddsmaker Nick Kalikas and myself did an extensive preview of the entire TUF China Finale fight card in part one of the Premium Oddscast, which was posted earlier today. Feel free to check out our latest episode. There’s plenty of combinations for great teams with 10 total bouts for this event:
Thanks for reading and good luck!