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Austin Swaim's UFC DFS lineups picks for UFC Vegas 124 - Cortes Acosta vs. Walker. Top MMA fighter picks this week include Nina Milosevic, Mantas Kontradavicius, Waldo Cortes Acosta, Gabriel Lorenco, and Davey Grant.
Every week, DraftKings Daily Fantasy offers MMA contests featuring the full UFC fight card. The DFS slate for UFC Fight Night: Cortes Acosta vs. Walker locks Saturday at 5 p.m. EST and is available on Paramount+.
Saturday's main event is a last-minute heavyweight clash. Sean Brady's injury disbanded the original one at welterweight, but without needing to cut weight, Waldo Cortes Acosta will put his top-five ranking on the line as he battles Brazil's Johnny Walker to save the show.
Here is a full breakdown of my favorite picks in each pricing tier.
UFC Vegas 124 DraftKings DFS Studs to Target
Nina Milosevic ($9,500)
The best DFS option on the board might be just under nine minutes into her UFC career, but at least it was a fun nine minutes:
Queen Beast showing how NASTY are her fists! 😳
🇷🇸Nina Milošević gets back into action this weekend when she faces Priscila Cachoeira in the #UFCVegas124 main card! https://t.co/k2FJOjgMBG
— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) November 6, 2026
Nina Milosevic got it done in her home country of Serbia, and UFC's efforts to nurture that growing fanbase are giving her an excellent shot to improve to 2-0. She'll face Priscila Cachoeira, a 38-year-old who has been stopped in four of her last six fights.
The aptly nicknamed "Zombie Girl" has a -3.10 striking success rate (SSR), which is the worst in women's 125-pound history among those with at least 10 fights. She's also 0-5 to submission results as a pro.
Even though "Queen Beast" got it done with the body shot above, most of her regional tape utilized her wrestling and elite back control. If she can find that position early against Cachoeira, there shouldn't be much drama here.
Mantas Kontradivicius ($9,300)
Andre Petroski is the only UFC fighter ever to knock themselves out on their opponent's hip by shooting a takedown. Whenever he's in the cage, we better pay attention in fantasy.
In a world where fighter durability didn't matter, Petroski's elite grappling could be a real threat. He averages 3.13 takedowns and 1.2 submission attempts per 15 minutes and has used those to climb to an 8-5 UFC record.
You might ask how that's possible without the ability to take punches. Well, his eight wins have come over foes with a combined 26-40 UFC record. Some were undersized welterweights. Some were non-UFC-level fighters. Most roster staples have found the (T)KO.
Mantas Kontradivicius has dropped both of his UFC opponents with a 2.50% knockdown rate (KD%) overall. I think his power will be too much for the Philly native.
Marcos Degli ($9,000)
When I previewed Marcos Degli's bid on the Contender Series less than two months ago, I raved about his power and a four-fight knockout streak.
What does he come out and show in the audition? Nothing but grappling. He secured three takedowns before finalizing the rear-naked choke less than 10 minutes into the fight with Paris Moran, who was 2-1 as a pro to submissions prior to that bout.
Carlos Prates' friend and training partner proved his well-roundedness there and has an immediate shot at leaping into the Meta Rankings against Mitch Raposo.
Raposo's fortune mystifies me. He's somehow 2-2 with a -1.01 SSR on the basis of two straight split-decision wins. The last came against the late Allan Nascimento in the Brazilian's final bout despite a -20 striking differential and getting dropped in Round 3.
I think the UFC knows he's overinflated and can quickly build Degli's momentum with a win.
UFC Vegas 124 DraftKings DFS Mid-Tier Picks
Waldo Cortes Acosta ($8,700)
It's "Salsa Boy" for me in the main event, which is -450 to not go the distance at DraftKings Sportsbook. No stacks are required this weekend.
Johnny Walker made waves with a flying knee in his heavyweight debut, but the Brazilian's fragility at heavyweight is a "when not if" proposition. His 45% striking defense is poor, and he's been (T)KO'd six times as a light heavyweight against smaller guys.
Cortes Acosta's 0.84 KD% will sneak up on you. He doesn't always throw with full intent, but he quietly has five knockouts in the first 10 minutes. The former baseball pitcher has lost two straight decisions inside the top five of the rankings, though.
There is a path where this fight is a bit timid and boring, considering the Dominican's 11:00 average fight time. He's had a few stinkers, so I'm not "all-in" for cash games. My model still has him finding a knockout 42.3% of the time.
Jose Delano ($8,000)
Most are taking a stand in the closest fight on the card. Kyrgyzstan's Murtazali Magomedov tests Brazil's Jose Delano in a featherweight battle of prospects.
It's a difficult call because Magomedov's pedigree and undefeated record have come against extremely poor regional opposition, and he was handed a layup on the Contender Series and his debut against the oft-injured Melsik Baghdasaryan, who hasn't won a fight since July 2023.
Delano's competition, facing UFC alums and prospects like Gabriel Santos, Robert Ruchala, and Manuel Exposito, has been significantly better. Santos was able to topple him with a third-round body kick, though.
In a guessing game, Delano's salary is $200 lower, and some of his metrics through battles with Ruchala and Exposito in the octagon are sweet. He's got a +4.93 SSR with elite striking (68%) and takedown (75%) defense so far.
Gabriel Lorenco ($7,800)
I thought a UFC-level heavyweight fight went down on the Contender Series as Gabriel Lorenco battled Charlie Cleveland. I still hope to see the latter in the cage one day.
As a sizeable underdog, Brazil's Lorenco was too fast and too much for the American regional standout:
RIGHT HAND HITS HOME 🏠
Gabriel Lorenco gets the TKO in R1 for a huge win!
[ #DWCS | LIVE on @ParamountPlus ] https://t.co/IVoLAMmJzz
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) September 1, 2026
Training at the famous Chute Box gym in São Paulo, Lorenco is unusually conditioned for this division, and it shows up in his speed and flexibility at striking range. His submission skills are an unknown, but I'm guessing they're present from those training grounds.
Thomas Petersen should be popular in DFS because of his wrestling base, but he's too much of a liability to get finished for me. That's been the outcome in three of his last five fights, and I'm not sure any of those foes were as agile as this prospect.
UFC Vegas 124 DraftKings Underdog Plays
Gabi Fernandes ($7,400)
In this sport, you just get caught sometimes. I think Gabi Fernandes got caught in her last fight.
Overall, Fernandes had absorbed 357 significant strikes through ranked battles with Carli Judice and Wang Cong (whom she both defeated) without getting dropped, and "King Casey" made it happen in Round 1. I don't see her durability as a problem.
With that said, if I'm getting two unreliable customers, I might as well take the dog. Karine Silva (-0.50) and Fernandes (-1.80 SSR) have both struggled with ranked opposition, and Gabi's rate is likely better if not for the -50 striking differential against Judice.
Silva's problematic cardio has left her gasping for air while losing three of her last four fights. Expect a hard charge from Fernandes if she's still standing past the 10-minute mark.
Davey Grant ($7,000)
At 40 years old, Davey Grant is aging like fine wine.
This is a familiar spot. A rising prospect less than 24 months removed from the Contender Series thinks they'll just squeeze right past the salty Englishman, but the old dog has won five of his last seven despite being an underdog in five of his last seven:
Don't you dare the man called 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦! 😤
The oncoming 🇬🇧@DaveyGrantMMA returns this weekend as he faces Elijah Smith in the #UFCVegas124 main card! https://t.co/0ojQ7KM6HC
— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) November 4, 2026
Elijah Smith is an athletic specimen, but he's not as good as Da'Mon Blackshear, who holds a 61.1% pro submission rate on the ground. He's not as good as Daniel Marcos (+1.11 SSR) at striking range.
Without an early finish related to that explosiveness, Smith's striking (46%) and takedown (53%) defense are problematic, and he narrowly escaped Vince Morales (3-9 UFC) by a tight decision just 21 months ago. If Grant hasn't lost a step, he's just a better version.
Wellington Turman ($6,500)
Priced at a point where survival would be fine in daily fantasy, I still don't think Wellington Turman is in immense danger despite being a +500 underdog.
My model has this fight 64.1% likely to go the distance, and Turman has done just that in two of his last three appearances. One of those was getting taken down and controlled eight times by the aforementioned Petroski, who is a middleweight.
Seokhyeon Ko will get a lot of credit for a spirited effort against Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani in his last fight, but he lost, and he's just not overly dangerous. All four of his UFC fights have gone the distance, and he's posted 0.2 submission attempts per 15 minutes.
Turman has been training at Teixeira MMA & Fitness with Alex Pereira and Yousri Belgaroui since his last appearance in December 2023. I just want to take this shot in case he corrupts the slate with a surprising advantage at distance. I've got him modeled at 27.2% likely to win.
