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/27725-fn-44-mma-oddsbreaker-250-tourney-on-ufc-fight-night-44-swanson-vs-stephens-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 44 like Cub Swanson ($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: Ray Borg ($5000): I’m all about the Borg. This kid is something special. Borg has elite grappling skills way beyond his years and can outwork just about anyone if the fight hits the canvas. Look for Borg to aggressively pursue the takedown to try to take advantage of short notice replacement Shane Howell’s deficiencies in the submission defense department. If Borg can put Howell on his back, he’s likely going to be scoring a plethora of pounts. Underdog Pick of the Night James Moontasri ($4200): Moontasri is an excellent Tae Kwon Do specialist, but what makes him a solid mixed martial artist is his takedown defense and overall defensive grappling skills. They were on full display three weeks ago against tough wrestler Jordan Rinaldi at RFA 15 when he fended off several takedown and clinch attempts, eventually lighting the gritty wrestler up with a multitude of flashy kicks. Moontasri’s kicks aren’t the only thing you need to worry about as his punches are what actually finished his last fight. His opponent Joe Ellenberger is of a similar mold, with decent stand-up but a preference for the wrestling and ground game. If Moontasri can keep this fight upright, he could pull off a major upset. Fighter to Avoid Marcelo Guimaraes ($4800): Guimaraes was once a top prospect, but he’s been less than stellar in his current UFC run, which has been plagued by poor performances and injuries. The Brazilian dropped down to welterweight for his first two UFC fights, but did not perform well, most recently getting knocked out cold by Hyun Gyu Lim over a year ago. He’s returning to middleweight, where he won the Jungle Fights Title in Brazil, but he’s facing a gritty opponent in Andy Enz who is going to hold a significant size advantage over him come fight time. I feel Enz’s size will make Guimaraes’ takedown-centric gameplan very difficult to pull off over the course of three rounds and he’s eventually going to wilt. Stay away! Complete UFC Fight Night 44 Finale 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 fight card on The Premium Oddscast, which was posted earlier this week. Feel free to check out our latest episode. There’s plenty of combinations for great teams with 11 total bouts for this event: UFC Fight Night 44 Preview
Thanks for reading and good luck!