UFC Fight Night 70 fantasy picks: 'Machida vs Romero' Kountermove preview

Ready to win some money?

With a paltry Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) offering this Saturday night (June 27, 2015) with UFC Fight Night 70 live on FOX Sports 1 from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, playing Fantasy MMA with Kountermove will undoubtedly spice up this banal event.

The featured fight on Saturday night will pit former light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida against Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero, so who do you take in Kountermove?

Let me help you out.

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 fighter's 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, UFC's official stats provider.

Below I break down the UFC Fight Night 70 card to help give you an edge in Kountermove this weekend. Here is my main event breakdown, the $4,800 pick, and a handful of quick picks for the Saturday evening event!

Main Event Breakdown: Lyoto Machida ($5,400) vs. Yoel Romero ($5,200)

In a battle of elder statesman, Lyoto Machida and Yoel Romero will lock horns in a skirmish between top six middleweights.

The 37-year old Machida is actually a year younger than Romero, but "The Dragon" has far more experience than his Cuban counterpart.

With only $200 in Fantasy money separating the two men in Kountermove, picking the correct fighter in the UFC Fight Night 70 main event could mean the difference between winning a boatload of cash, and walking away empty handed.

Unfortunately, there truly is no easy pick here.

Machida is coming off arguably the worst loss of his career, as he was absolutely hammered by Luke Rockhold prior to being submitted early on in the second round.

That fight was only two months ago, and with "The Dragon" recently revealing he had hand surgery following the loss, it has to make you wary of picking him in Kountermove this weekend.

On the other hand, "Soldier of God" hasn't competed since last September, where he finished Tim Kennedy in their highly controversial UFC 178 contest (more on that here).

Romero has the power to finish anyone in the division, and the wrestling acumen to just about grind anyone down, but can he overcome Machida's elusive style on the feet?

While there is no easy choice, I am going to have to pick the veteran Machida to take home the victory, and I think he does it via (technical) knockout in the third or fourth round.

The $4,800 Pick: Steve Montgomery

With so many late changes to this card, you just knew Kountermove would be offering up a handful of $4,800 fighters this weekend.

With six of the 18 possible choices coming in at $4,800, it is vital to pick the correct fighter, or your team will undoubtedly suffer.

Steve Bosse, Thiago Santos, Sirwan Kawai, Danny Martinez, Tony Sims, and Steve Montgomery all come in at $4,800, and I think "The Creepy Weasel" is the runaway pick here.

The man who is now known for his extremely scary seizure of season 21 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), is ironically the first contestant from the show to get a crack inside the Octagon.

Montgomery was told he would get a shot in the UFC had he made the 170-pound welterweight limit on the regional scene, but after making weight and not being able to fight due to an event cancellation at the last minute, it seemed the American Top Team (ATT) product was once again getting the short end of the stick.

"The Creepy Weasel" was then set to fight last weekend at Odyssey Fights, but with so many changes to the UFC Fight Night 70 card due to visa issues, UFC called up Montgomery to face off against fellow UFC debutant Tony Sims on short notice.

Let me put on record that I believe Sims is a UFC caliber fighter, who could very well become a legit contender inside the Octagon, but it won't be in the welterweight division.

"2.0" is a career lightweight who is jumping up 15 pounds to make his Octagon debut on short notice, and he will have a major size discrepancy against Montgomery come fight night.

Not to mention the ATT product has already been engulfed in a training camp and is fight ready, while Sims did not have a bout scheduled moving forward.

I think Montgomery earns his sixth straight victory, and I think he does it via knockout in the first round.

Quick Picks:

$4,800 Sirwan Kakai: "Zohan" is a finishing machine, earning six submissions alongside four (technical) knockouts in 11 career victories. While his opponent Danny Martinez has never been finished in 22 fights, Kakai was training for an upcoming fight at Titan FC, while "The Gremlin" had no fight scheduled when this bout was made on just a week's notice. Expect major violence from Kakai on Saturday night.

$5,200 Leandro Silva: After being gifted a submission win over Drew Dober his last time out -- that ultimately was overturned to a No Contest --  you have to believe "Buscape" is itching to get back in the win column without any controversy behind it. Lewis Gonzalez is no walk in the park, but I suspect "Buscape" will be able to accrue yet another submission victory.

$5,400 Alex Oliveira: "Cowboy" literally just finished KJ Noons via submission in under three minutes last month, so how could you not pick the streaking Brazilian in Hollywood? Sure Merritt has knocked out all six of his opponents, but he has never faced off against anyone as talented as Oliveira. I think the talent discrepancy will be large in the favor of Oliveira come fight night.

For more information on UFC Fight Night 70, including the full fight card, results, news and more click here.