Guess who's back again, Maniacs?
The mixed martial arts (MMA) fantasy website Kountermove is back with another freeroll for MMAmania.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 MMAmania.com readers, just click the link below:
http://www.kountermove.com/join/15505-ufc-fight-night-27-condit-vs-kampmann-2-2/
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 it's 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 27 like Brad Tavares ($5700), 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:
Erik Perez ($4800): Perez is one of the best bantamweight prospects on the entire UFC roster and while he's facing his stiffest test to date in former WEC title challenger Takeya Mizugaki, his track record in UFC fights thus far has been incredible. "Goyito" has scored three first round finishes in his first three UFC appearances which would have netted you some massive points if you picked him every time thus far. It probably won't come as easy, but Perez is definitely capable of keeping his streak of big-time Kountermove performances alive.
Robert Whittaker ($5000): "The Reaper" is a serious finisher with some massive pop in his fists. He proved himself as the real deal in his last fight by knocking TUF season 16 winner Colton Smith senseless. Whittaker trains out of Tristar Gym in Montreal alongside Rory MacDonald and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and no doubt some of that work ethic is wearing off on the talented Aussie. If he plays his cards right, he has a very good chance of putting the much less athletic Court McGee away.
Underdog Pick of the Night
Brandon Thatch ($4400): Everyone has been ranting and raving about this talented prospect out of Grudge Training Center in Colorado. Thatch is a finisher, hands down, having scored a first round stoppage in all nine of his professional victories. Thatch mixes brutal Muay Thai kickboxing with an above average ground game As long as he can avoid Justin Edwards' guillotine choke in the opening minutes, you can expect to get more than your money's worth for "Rukus."
Thanks for reading and good luck!