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 $500 tournament for MMAOddsBreaker.com readers, just click the link below: https://www.kountermove.com/join/21513-ufc-169-mma-oddsbreaker-500-tourney-on-ufc-169-barao-vs-faber-2-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 169 like Jose Aldo ($6200), 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: Jamie Varner ($4600): This is practically a steal of a price for the former WEC Lightweight Champion. Granted, Varner has quite a few fight years under his belt, but he’s put up big Kountermove points even in losing efforts (versus Joe Lauzon for example). Varner has a very powerful right hand and should be technically superior to his opponent Abel Trujillo, an up-and-coming fighter that Varner actually has an age advantage against. Varner has seen it all against some of the best on the planet and he’s competitive against just about everyone. He will likely survive all the way to the distance as long as he doesn’t gas and should he connect with the right, it will very likely be nighty night for Trujillo. Underdog Pick of the Night Tony Martin ($4200): One of the best opportunities for taking advantage of Kountermove’s cheap prices for fighters is when they’re making their UFC debuts. Martin is set to fight the M-1 welterweight champion Rashid Magomedov in a lightweight contest, but despite the incredible run of success Russian fighters have had in the UFC, this is a golden opportunity for Martin to shine. Martin is a fast starter with decent power and some nice overall wrestling and submission skills. Magomedov, while a solid striker in his own right, hasn’t fought in over a year, is making his lightweight debut and will also be competing overseas for the first time. Factor in that Magomedov is typically a slow starter and there’s tremendous upset potential. Martin could win the first two rounds before Magomedov can shake the rust off. Fighter to Avoid Jose Aldo ($6200): It’s not that I don’t think Jose Aldo is going to put on a dynamite performance, he probably will. The problem here is the price. At $6200, Aldo needs to provide a HUGE return on your investment, that means either a late first round stoppage where he scores about 120 points or perhaps a devastating five round decision where he piles up heaps of points. Aldo is a more patient striker than most, looking for opportunities to explode, and while I expect him to eventually crack Ricardo Lamas’ chin, there are plenty of other fighters on this card who will provice just as many points for a significantly reduced price. Complete UFC 169 Preview If my fantasy preview isn’t enough for you, myself, Reed Kuhn and MMA Oddsmaker Nick Kalikas did an extensive preview of the entire UFC 169 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 12 total bouts for this event:
Thanks for reading and good luck!