The Ultimate Fighter 18 fantasy preview plus $250 Kountermove freeroll for MMAmania readers

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/16198-the-ultimate-fighter-18-25/

If you don't have an account, don't worry, you can create one for free, but do it quickly, spacing is limited!

Important! Since this contest will last the entire duration of The Ultimate Fighter season 18, your fighters have potential to compete three times and earn you points on multiple occasions. Here are some things you need to know:

Key differences of TuF game format

1. On the Kountermove picks page, players should disregard what appear to be fighter "match ups" as displayed. The match-ups are not yet set, so just pick your fighters based on their individual potential.
2. TUF 18 games run and accumulate points during the entire TUF 18 season; Wednesday, Sept. 11th through the TUF Finale show (Nov. 30th).
3. Every fight in the tournament accumulates points. So, if TUF house fighters fight multiple times as they progress in the TUF competition, they earn points for your team each time they compete (cumulatively).
4. Note, only the official finalist fighters at the TUF 18 finale event are eligible to earn points that night.

If you're interested in a few pointers on potential fighters to pick, I'll be offering my analysis and potential picks to click.

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 The Ultimate Fighter 18 like Shayna Baszler ($5800), 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:

Shayna Baszler ($5800): I know she's expensive, but this is a tournament where you're looking to grab someone who you think can win the whole thing, and I feel Shayna Baszler is the heavy favorite heading into this season. "The Queen of Spades" has a tremendous grappling acumen, high finishing rate and has experience against the absolute best fighters in the world. She's worth the lofty price in my opinion.

Underdog Pick of the Night

Anthony Gutierrez ($4400): Gutierrez made a real name for himself on the local circuit, building up a reputation as a ferocious finisher in the Titan Fighting Championships promotion based out of Kansas City. "Sharkbait" has four first round finishes in four professional bouts, but he is coming off a long layoff due to a severe leg injury. He looked solid, although safe in his fight to get into the house. For the price Kountermove is asking, he's a steal and could net you some serious underdog points if given a favorable match-up.

Thanks for reading and good luck!