The mixed martial arts (MMA) fantasy website Kountermove is back with another exclusive game 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 tournament for MMAOddsBreaker.com readers, just click the link below: http://www.kountermove.com/join/44656-mma-oddsbreaker-50-mendes-vs-mcgregor-fantasy-mma-freeroll-on-fantasy-mma-mendes-vs-mcgregor-711-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 189 like Rory MacDonald ($5600) 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: Alex Garcia ($4800): Garcia is a flawed fighter for sure due to his less than stellar chin and conditioning, but he’ll be stepping into the Octagon opposite Mike Swick, a veteran who has not fought in multiple years and has only fought twice in the last five years overall. This is more of a fade of Swick’s ring rust than it’s a bet on Garcia, but Garcia does train out of a great gym at Tristar and he’s still an explosive fighter with some serious power. If he can beat Swick, it’ll likely be very quickly which would mean a big Kountermove score. Underdog Pick of the Night Jeremy Stephens ($4300): Stephens is still one of the most dangerous featherweights on the UFC roster despite his tough current skid, but Dennis Bermudez could be a picture perfect opponent for him to bounce back. This is a bit of a risk vs reward pick, but Bermudez has a very questionable chin and if you combine that with Stephens’ power, it could lead to a huge KM performance if he connects. That being said, Bermudez has some nasty wrestling and that could nullify the power striking so be careful with this one. Fighter to Avoid Gunnar Nelson ($5300): I simply feel Nelson is undersized for the UFC’s welterweight division. Especially for a fighter who relies on his excellent ground game, he’s going to have a much more difficult time taking fights to the canvas against the bigger, stronger fighters in the division. You won’t find a fighter much bigger or longer at welterweight than Brandon Thatch. If Nelson can’t take Thatch down and submit him, he could be in for a world of hurt. Complete UFC 189 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 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 this event: UFC 189 Preview
Thanks for reading and good luck!