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Guess who's back again, Maniacs?
While I may be gone as a regular writer, I'm not going to take with me an opportunity for you to win free money. Expect a preview article and a tournament for every major show!
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:
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 166 like Cain Velasquez ($6000), 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:
TJ Waldburger ($4800): The extremely talented submission wizard is at it again. Waldburger has a penchant for scoring quick finishes, having done so in three of his four UFC victories including a second round "Submission of the Night"-earning performance in his last bout against Nick Catone. Waldburger is still young at 25 years old and his skills are continuing to develop as he becomes an ever-increasingly dangerous fighter. The only thing to be concerned about is his chin as he's been hurt on the feet multiple times throughout his career.
Underdog Pick of the Night
Hector Lombard ($4400): This one is a bit odd considering Lombard is the former Bellator middleweight champion and is actually the betting favorite heading into his bout against Nate Marquardt, but you can get him on the cheap and he's well worth the price. Lombard, while frustrating at times, has some seriously heavy hands and his power should easily translate as he moves down a weight division for the first time in his career. His opponent Nate Marquardt is coming off back-to-back ugly fights where he was beat up badly so there's a good chance Lombard keeps the momentum rolling negatively for "The Great" later tonight.
Fighter to Avoid
Sarah Kaufman ($5300): Kaufman has not looked very good in her last two fights, a first minute armbar defeat to Ronda Rousey followed by an ugly split decision win over Leslie Smith where she was dropped for the first time in her career. Don't expect it to get any easier against Jessica Eye, the top ranked women's flyweight in the world who expects to give Kaufman all she can handle. Even if Kaufman is victorious, don't expect her to score many points as Eye is tough as nails and should keep her frustrated every step of the way.
Thanks for reading and good luck!
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