:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/13628549/00km.0.png)
Guess who's back again, Maniacs?
The mixed martial arts (MMA) fantasy website Kountermove is back with a complete website redesign and this time, it's offering an even bigger 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 right here:
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 160 like Cain Velasquez ($6100), 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:
Brian Bowles ($5200): The former WEC champion is returning after a long layoff to heal some nagging injuries and get his head on straight. As long as he's back mentally and physically, Bowles is one of the most dangerous 135-pounders in the world. To top it off, he's fighting a sucked out George Roop, who has a bad habit of getting knocked out in highlight reel fashion when he loses. Bowles has a good chance of repeating history here and the price is right.
Donald Cerrone ($5200): Cerrone is fighting K.J. Noons, an opponent who has lost 4 of his last 5 fights against opposition mainly on a lower level than "Cowboy.' Another big factor here is that Cerrone has considerably more methods to victory against Noons, including his kicks, underrated wrestling and his solid ground game. Noons, on the other hand, only has the one real weapon. As long as Cerrone has his head on straight, he has a very good chance of netting you some big points.
Rick Story (4800): Story, for all his faults, is still the man that beat Johny Hendricks and Thiago Alves in consecutive bouts and was at one point in serious title contention. He looked to regain some of his past form with a very impressive beating of Quinn Mulhern in his last bout and while he's facing a considerably more seasoned Mike Pyle tonight, Pyle has a bad habit of quickly fading when he meets some heavy hands (ex: Rory MacDonald, Jake Ellenberger). If Story connects and starts unloading a big flurry, Pyle could be in serious trouble. The risk vs. reward here is very good.
Underdog pick of the Night
T.J. Grant ($4400): If you pick an expensive fighter like Glover Teixeira, Junior dos Santos or Cain Velasquez on your team, you're going to need to balance it out with an underdog. In my opinion, the underdog with the best chance of overperforming is T.J. Grant. Grant has gone 4-0 with increasingly more impressive performances. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Gray Maynard, who was knocked out by Frankie Edgar, had a very close and ugly fight against Clay Guida and then suffered a knee injury. "The Bully" could be ripe for an upset here and Grant possesses just the right amount of violence, especially with a title shot on the line, to score you some solid points for your team. Even if he doesn't win, it's unlikely he gets finished so you could still bank plenty of points over the course of three rounds.
Thanks for reading and good luck!
If you want to know more, here's my initial review of the fantasy MMA website from this past April.
Get the latest gear
