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Justin Bales gives his DraftKings MMA DFS lineup picks for the Fight Night 110 Main Card. Get a head start on your UFC DFS lineups for DraftKings.
What's up RotoBallers. In this column, I will be taking a look at the main card for Fight Night 110. Our analysis will help you with your DraftKings MMA lineups. We will be keeping track based on picking winners and losers. We will also predict how the fight will be finished, but that will not reflect in the records (Justin's Record: 120-56).
MMA has one of the best sweats in DFS. Two fighters compete at a time with only one coming out as the winner. It's the best feeling in the world when you are watching the main event of a show and know you need a first round knockout to win the entire tournament. And nothing feels worse than when you need a first round knockout by Stipe Miocic to win thousands of dollars in a tournament, but when he lands that knockout punch, you realize that you placed 14th because Jacare Souza was too dominant in a previous fight. This was a serious scenario that I had to live through when Miocic won the Heavyweight Championship. Without anymore waiting, here are our DFS lineup picks and DraftKings analysis for the main card at Fight Night 110.
Editor's Note: Interested in RotoBaller's MMA DFS Cheat Sheet with advanced fighter statistics, deep analysis and detailed insights from MMA DFS Expert Justin Bales? Let us know here.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Mizuto Hirota
This is an interesting matchup. Both fighters come with good power and love mixing in takedowns to their offense. They both enjoy working from the top, while each fighter somewhat struggles with takedown defense. Volkanovski has finished each of his last six fights, while Hirota’s power has yet to translate to the UFC. This will likely be a showcase type of fight for Volkanovski, as he mixes a combination of takedowns and ground and pound for his seventh consecutive finish.
Alexander Volkanovski via TKO, 2nd Round
Tim Elliott vs Ben Nguyen
The Vegas line to this fight is somewhat surprising, as Elliott is only a small favorite. He has looked great since returning to the UFC, as he displayed solid grappling against Demetrious Johnson before grappling circles around Louis Smolka in his last fight. Nguyen has also found plenty of success in the UFC, but he recently struggled with the grappling of Smolka. Elliott should be able to deploy the same game plan as Smolka before coming out with another dominant win.
Tim Elliott via Submission, 3rd Round
Ion Cutelaba vs Henrique da Silva
Cutelaba is a fight that has a good chin and hits hard. He also mixes takedowns into his game plans, although he’s far from an elite level grappler. da Silva is another fighter that hits hard, but he struggles to defend the takedown. He is a decent fighter off his back, but he has seemingly given up in each of his last two fights. Cutelaba is a pressure fighter, who attempts to break the will of his opponents. da Silva will have to do some soul searching in this fight, but I am not completely sold he is going to prevail. Cutelaba will use hard ground and pound to hand da Silva his third consecutive loss.
Ion Cutelaba via TKO, 2nd Round
Dan Hooker vs Ross Pearson
Pearson is seemingly the stepping-stone for young up-and-coming fighters in the UFC. He has lost five of his last seven, and his only two wins have come by split decision. Hooker, on the other hand, has lost three of his last five fights, but each of his two wins have come via finishes. Ross is a pressure fighter, but Hooker is the more dangerous striker of the duo. Hooker has not won a decision since 2011, and Pearson has displayed a great chin over his last few fights. With that being said, Hooker and Pearson strike at a very similar output, but I expect Hooker to be the more damaging fighter. He will be able to do enough to pick up the victory on the scorecards.
Dan Hooker via Unanimous Decision
Derek Brunson vs Daniel Kelly
Who would have thought that Kelly would be fighting Brunson at any point in his career? Brunson was recently seen as an elite prospect before losing each of his last two fights, although he had a questionable loss to Anderson Silva in his last fight. Kelly has been perfect in his UFC career aside from a TKO loss to Sam Alvey. Kelly is an awkward fighter that has elite striking defense. He also uses elite Judo to help his takedown defense. Brunson’s wrestling and Kelly’s Judo will likely cancel each other out for the most part. This fight will come down to who the better striker is. Brunson relies heavily on power, while Kelly tends to use his strikeout to outpoint his opponents. It isn’t a surprise that Kelly is a heavy underdog, as he always seems to be, but it’s time we consider him a contender. He’ll pull off the upset and continue to climb up the rankings.
Daniel Kelly via Unanimous Decision
Derrick Lewis vs Mark Hunt
Quite frankly, this fight is a complete coin flip. Both men are extremely powerful with great chins. Both fighters strike at a similar rate with similar defense. This fight could simply come down to who can land the first takedown. Lewis has vicious ground and pound, and most fighters struggle to get up once he gets on top of them. I expect that to be the case in this fight. On the other hand, Hunt has slightly better grappling. Lewis rarely uses “form” to stand up, as he tends to set one hand on the ground and push himself off the ground when he is ready. I feel it is more likely Lewis gets up from a Hunt takedown than Hunt gets up from a Lewis takedown. That is the difference in this pick.
Derrick Lewis via TKO, 2nd Round
