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Austin Swaim's UFC DFS lineups picks for UFC 334 - Gane vs. Hokit. Top MMA fighter picks this week include Bilal Hasan, Kayla Harrison, Stephen Thompson, Josh Hokit, and Jim Miller.
Every week, DraftKings Daily Fantasy offers MMA contests featuring the full UFC fight card. The DFS slate for UFC 334: Gane vs. Hokit locks Saturday at 5 p.m. EST and is available on Paramount+.
Saturday's main event is a heavyweight title clash for the ages at Madison Square Garden. Ciryl Gane dispatched Alex Pereira at The White House in June to claim undisputed gold, and his first title defense is Josh Hokit, a brash, eccentric former NFL fullback.
Here is a full breakdown of my favorite picks in each pricing tier.
UFC 334 DraftKings DFS Studs to Target
Bilal Hasan ($9,800)
The "one dominant favorite" player pool in UFC is always a fascinating play-or-fade scenario, and we've definitely got that with Bilal Hasan at a salary $500 higher than any other fighter.
It's because Hasan, a -950 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, is the most prohibitive win pick by a country mile. He's also an unusual finisher for this flyweight division, recording 9 of his 10 pro wins via a stoppage inside nine minutes.
This is a pretty shameless matchup against Luis Gurule, who is 1-4 in the UFC and absorbs a card-worst 5.35 significant strikes per minute. He's been stopped inside 10 minutes in two of his four UFC losses.
The "Indoninja" is a lethally quick striker down the pipe, but he is a striker. There's a fascinating game theory component to choosing him at what will surely be enormous popularity. If this fight starts in Round 2, lineups without him in tournaments will look solid.
Juan Diaz ($9,200)
It's not just Hasan being such a prohibitive favorite. The other large favorites on this card are suspect, suboptimal fantasy scorers, or both.
Peru's Juan Diaz would be my "B" option to Hasan. The downside to the bantamweight is that he's facing Alatengheili, who has never been finished in the UFC and has solid striking (56%) and takedown (75%) defense.
Diaz will enjoy plenty of special advantages in this fight, though. He'll have a three-inch reach edge at distance, and I was surprised to learn he's posted 5.50 takedowns per 15 minutes thus far. I'd label him a striker, but he's just mixed it up with outstanding pace.
Of course, Diaz -- after a Contender Series (DWCS) highlight for the ages -- is no stranger to getting creative to find a finish.
HOLY SPINNING ELBOW 🤯
JUAN DIAZ JUST GAVE US ONE OF THE BEST KOs IN #DWCS HISTORY! https://t.co/foUOwM1fEe
— UFC (@ufc) October 15, 2025
Kayla Harrison ($8,800)
After a three-year layoff, I have no idea what version of Amanda Nunes walks through that cage door on Saturday. I'll take perhaps the greatest female combat sports athlete of all time on the other side, though.
Harrison, 36, is actually two years younger than the former champ (38), and she looked every bit of that in a dominant second-round submission of Julianna Pena to claim this belt in 2025. Nunes, in two matchups, never finished "The Venezuelan Vixen" in the octagon.
The former two-division PFL champion has smothered foes with 2.84 takedowns and 0.9 submission attempts per 15 minutes. I'd argue those numbers would be higher if she didn't bump into Ketlen Vieira's all-world takedown defense (90%) two fights ago.
Harrison's style is fantasy-friendly, and I'm not really interested in Nunes when athleticism and intimidation were the signature attributes of her title reign, and neither is a true advantage over the credentialed American.
UFC 334 DraftKings DFS Mid-Tier Picks
Chris Duncan ($8,600)
All three of my mid-tier picks this week are values to find knockouts against the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook. Even getting a couple of those would have us cooking with gas.
The first is Chris "The Problem" Duncan, who battles 38-year-old Drew Dober. The Scotsman, ironically enough, doesn't have a KO win in six UFC triumphs -- just three submissions and three decisions. But, that's not to say the brawler isn't due.
Duncan's knockdown rate (0.81 KD%) is quite solid and doesn't lag behind Dober (1.01 KD%), who has built his entire career on power punches. At an advanced age, Dober has been KO'd in three of his last seven fights, and that's not a trend that often goes the other way.
In DFS, I'd take a submission, but Dober hasn't lost that way since March 2021. Still, this salary is more than fair for a fighter I've modeled as 48.3% likely to find a finish.
Stephen Thompson ($8,300)
In a retirement bout, Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson could be yet another famed welterweight we send off with a first-round stoppage. Both Michael Chiesa and Niko Price did that this year, too.
Thompson, 44, is definitely past his prime, but in his very last fight, he had a +3 striking differential against Gabriel Bonfim, a top-10 contender. In fact, all five of Thompson's losses since the start of 2020 have come against ranked foes. I don't think he's "washed".
Charles Radtke is a definite step down in competition. Radtke's five UFC wins have a combined 9-19 UFC record, and only Francisco Prado, a lightweight, remains on the roster.
Wonderboy's 63% takedown defense has been the root cause of his struggles. Bonfim landed 5 takedowns to narrowly escape with the decision. Radtke's 44% takedown accuracy, against poor competition, is just okay, though. I'm not sure he can reliably get the striker down.
Instead, Radtke was KO'd inside 10 minutes by the two ranked fighters he faced. Can one of the nicest dudes in the sport turn back the clock?
Yousri Belgaroui ($7,700)
Yousri Belgaroui's best win in the UFC is over Mansur Abdul-Malik (3-2-1 record). This is a massive step up into the top five.
I think he's ready, though. The 6'6" giant with a 79" reach at middleweight has largely been untouchable, posting a +4.16 striking success rate (SSR). His improving takedown defense (66%) is what's really allowed him to take advantage of his striking skills, too.
THE BOOGEYMAN WON'T STOP
Yousri Belgaroui has his sights on a fifth straight knockout victory at #Polymarket #UFC334!
[ LIVE NOV 14 at 9pmET on @ParamountPlus ] https://t.co/NL11iyr5s2
— UFC (@ufc) November 10, 2026
Belgaroui's 1.10 KD% has found a Round 3 knockout in three of his last four fights as he's patiently chipped away. He would be the first to stop Caio Borralho in nine fights, and my model assesses a 25.4% chance of a knockout here.
I think a better DFS argument is assuming a finish doesn't happen, though. The Dutchman's lower salary helps offset concerns about a fight that's -185 to go the distance at DraftKings.
UFC 334 DraftKings Underdog Plays
Cesar Almeida ($7,500)
I usually default to fighters who might wrestle in close matchups, but Cesar Almeida will be an exception.
It's hard to trust that Donte Johnson will deploy that sort of game plan. The knockout artist drops his opponents on average with exactly 1 out of every 25 punches he lands on average. He's only scored a takedown in one of his four UFC-affiliated fights.
I think that's the path of least resistance through Almeida, but will he? I'm not sure. I've got him projected for just 0.98 takedowns. If this fight stays at distance, "Cesinha" might dominate it.
Almeida's +1.50 SSR is better than Johnson's (+1.25) despite significantly better opposition. Almeida has beaten five fighters with a winning UFC record -- not including Alex Pereira as a kickboxer. Johnson hasn't beaten one yet.
Though 38 years old and coming off a knockout loss, the veteran could teach the young buck a lesson here.
Jim Miller ($7,300)
Here's another old guy we'll pray survives an early storm.
43-year-old Jim Miller has the biggest, baddest storm to survive at all of lightweight. Terrance McKinney has eight first-round finishes and the second-shortest average fight time (2:45) among all active fighters.
Why am I not loading up on McKinney in DFS? Well, he's yet to win outside the first five minutes. He expired about four minutes into his last bout with King Green, 39, despite dominating the entirety of those minutes. He has no endurance with such an explosive approach.
Miller's last first-round loss came in 2018, which was 16 appearances ago. "A-10" is tougher than a two-dollar steak.
Literally the only factor about Miller that makes you think he's a vulnerable early target is his age. If we censored that, he's the ideal candidate to wait out an early onslaught and dispatch of an exhausted "T-Wrecks".
Josh Hokit ($7,200)
I will take a Josh Hokit loss on the chin before I fade his meteoric counting averages.
He's terrorized the heavyweight division for 9.29 significant strikes per minute and 3.73 takedowns per 15 minutes thus far. His floor of fantasy points (DKPTs) has been 102.5 across four bouts, including a fight in which he and Curtis Blaydes set a divisional record for significant strikes.
UNFORGETTABLE THREE ROUND BLOODBATH! ⚔️
Josh Hokit vs. Curtis Blaydes was ABSOLUTE MMA CINEMA 🩸
#UFC334 | Saturday | Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max https://t.co/YbazOyIJgv
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) November 10, 2026
Doubters are aplenty about whether Hokit can implement his brawling style against Ciryl Gane, the technical heavyweight champion, but I really don't see why not. Gane's 47% takedown defense is awful, and the Frenchman is 1-2 in fights where he's been taken down.
A "fight stack" is on the table when Hokit is the 'dog, but I see the champion eventually wilting if Hokit has any success at all. The former NFL player's gas tank is just uncanny for a dude his size.
