Bellator 135 fantasy picks: 'Warren vs. Galvao' Kountermove preview

No Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event this weekend? No problem!

Bellator MMA is here to pick up the slack this Friday night (March 27, 2015) for the promotion's 135th event, airing live on Spike TV from the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

The Bellator bantamweight championship is on the line in the main event of the evening as Joe Warren looks to defend his belt for the first time in a rematch against Marcos Galvao. "The Baddest Man On The Planet" took the shocking unanimous decision victory back in 2011, and the Brazilian wants his revenge this Friday night.

The co-main event features World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) veteran LC Davis as he takes on the dangerous DREAM veteran Hideo Tokoro in another bantamweight feature.

If you plan on kicking back and relaxing this weekend for the Bellator event, why not up the ante by playing Fantasy MMA with Kountermove?

If you are not familiar with how Kountermove works, here is what you need to know:

In Kountermove you build a team of five fighters utilizing a "salary cap" of $25,000 in fantasy money to spend on drafting the team you expect to perform the best on fight night. If your team performs well enough, you will likely have a share of cash prizes in any number of Kountermove's games.

Points* are scored with finishes, significant strikes, knockdowns, takedowns, dominant positions, and submission attempts. The more dominant your fighters' performance is, the more points you're going to score. For a detailed breakdown of how the scoring works, click here.

*Fighter statistics are provided by FightMetric LLC.

Ready to play?

Below I break down the Bellator 135 card to help give you an edge in Kountermove this weekend. Here is my fighter to avoid, my star pick, and a handful of quick picks for the Oklahoma event this Friday night.

Who To Avoid: Joe Warren ($5500)

You might be thinking to yourself: "Why in the world would I avoid picking the Bellator bantamweight champ in Kountermove this weekend?"

Simple answer: He won't score you enough points to make up for his hefty price tag.

Long-form: Joe Warren is not exactly a finishing machine, earning only four finishes in 12 career victories. In Kountermove, a finish will earn you a hefty bonus, so if you pick someone who is not expected to get the finish, they better be racking up the points with significant strikes, takedowns, and submission attempts.

Sure, Warren has the ability to take down his opponent at will, but his significant strike total never really impresses. The Bellator champ is a grinder in every sense of the word, and while he has looked to finish fights more recently, I don't see him getting the job done against Galvao this weekend.

In the end, I suspect Warren will remain the bantamweight champ, but he will only score around 60-75 points on fight night.

Star Pick: Ryan Couture ($5000)

I never thought I would peg Ryan Couture as a "Star Pick," but here we are.

Couture looked impressive in his Bellator debut, earning a rear-naked choke victory just three minutes into his fight with Tommy Bagnasco. Of course, Couture was set up to put on a stellar performance against the relatively unknown Bagnasco, but he did his job nonetheless.

This time around, Couture is taking on stiffer competition in Dakota Cochrane. In Cochrane's lone Bellator appearance, the RFA veteran was choked out in under three minutes. The submission loss was his fifth in seven career defeats.

As for Couture, the son of the legendary UFC champ has five career submission victories in nine overall wins, including three straight.

Are you getting the picture here?

Expect Couture to choke out Cochrane at some point in the fight, and earn you the hefty finish bonus you deserve!

Quick Picks:

$4800 Rashad Coulter: Who is Rashad Coulter? Honestly, I have no idea! So, why am I picking him? Well, Coulter's opponent is 13-24, and has lost four straight via finish. Pick Coulter, reap the rewards.

$5400 Francis Carmont: The former top-notch UFC prospect has looked dismal as of late, but favorable Bellator matchmaking tells me the Frenchman will earn a finish on Friday night.

$4700 Marcos Galvao: I may not be picking Galvao for every team, but having him on one or two squads can't hurt. Considering the Brazilian was robbed in their first contest, I expect him to try and take Warren's head off this time around. The two scenarios are either Galvao finishing the champ, or being manhandled on the mat.

Enjoy the fights!