This Saturday, February 28, the UFC is hosting an event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. UFC 184 will feature several intriguing fights, but none as high profile as the main event. In the main event, Ronda Rousey will look to defend her UFC women’s bantamweight championship against fellow undefeated bantamweight, Cat Zingano.
This card will also feature Holly Holm’s much anticipated UFC debut as she takes on Raquel Pennington. To make these fights even more exciting, you can head over to DraftKings and set up your very own Daily Fantasy MMA lineup. Here are the contest details:
-$30,000 prize pool.
– First place wins $2,500
– $2 entry fee (FREE with first deposit)
– Top 3,640 finishing positions are paid.
– Starts Saturday, February 29 at 8:00 PM EST
– Salary Cap Style Drafting. $50,000 to select 5 fighters
– First time depositors at DraftKings receive a 100% bonus up to $600
Fighters to stay away from: Zingano, Pennington, Walsh, Potts, Yamamoto
Zingano is fighting the best female fighter in women’s MMA. While many will find it hard to root against Zingano, she has a tendency of getting dominated early. A habitual mistake she cannot afford to make in the biggest fight of her life. Rousey likes to finish her opponents as quickly as she possibly can. Zingano does have devastating strikes, heart, and tenacity, but I just don’t feel like it will be enough to dethrone the queen of MMA.
Pennington is going against arguably the best female striker in combat sports today. Holm is considered to be a boxing legend who has also found success in kickboxing and now looks to have a successful career in MMA. Pennington has a brawling style of striking, which will play right into the strength of Holm. Pennington may look to try to out-grapple the new UFC prospect, but I doubt she will find success against the Jackson-Winkeljohn coached fighter.
Walsh is going up against a well-rounded fighter in Jouban. Walsh hasn’t displayed anything that really stands out. Jouban is a great athlete that possesses good striking. Walsh could hurt Jouban early and possibly grind out a gritty win, but I just don’t see Walsh being that aggressive.
Potts has been KO’d in his only two fights in the UFC and Lewis is a KO machine. I look for this to be a really short fight with Potts waking up to some unfortunate news.
“Kid” Yamamoto was once considered to be a threat to anyone that stood in front of him. Now, the bantamweight fighter has lost five of his last six fights and hasn’t stepped foot inside the Octagon since 2012. Fighters that take time off usually find some kind of resurgence in their career, however, three years may be a bit too much of a layoff for Yamamoto.
Fighters with good values: Ellenberger, Jouban, Lima, Lewis
The bad news about Ellenberger is that he has lost his last three fights in a row. The good news, however, is that his opponent has dropped his last three fights as well. Ellenberger, who has come to be known as “Juggernaut”, hasn’t really showed up like we’ve seen in the past. He’s been fighting cautiously and very conservatively. Koscheck is pretty aggressive, so Ellenberger can’t afford to be moving backwards in this fight.
The good news is that Koscheck is very predictable. He’s a flat-footed one-punch striker who doesn’t put combinations together. He does have excellent wrestling but Ellenberger has the defensive wrestling to nullify his opponent’s skill set. With Koscheck’s last two fights coming by way of KO/TKO, if the “Juggernaut” shows up, it could be a short night for his opponent.
Jouban is really well-rounded that has excellent striking skills. His opponent, Walsh, doesn’t really possess any skills that are a threat to Jouban. The skills difference should be obvious in the first round, and I expect Jouban to finish the job by the second.
Dhiego Lima made it all the way to the finals of The Ultimate Fighter as a middleweight. He now returns to his welterweight home where I believe he should find success. His opponent, Means, is no pushover by any means, but Lima will definitely has the size advantage. Means is a former lightweight fighter, while Lima had success as a middleweight. Means will have a speed advantage, but I just don’t believe he will be able to put Lima away. If Lima is able to get a hold of Means, it could mean an early finish for Lima.
Derrick Lewis is simply a monster inside the Octagon. His opponent is coming off of a two-fight losing streak where he was brutally KO’d. Devastating KO’s are Lewis’ specialty, so expect this fight to end quickly and violently.
With all that being said, an example of a good lineup is as follows:
Ellenberger — $11,400
Tibau — $8,500
Munoz — $12,200
Salazar — $7,600
Lima — $10,100
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @BigWillyHamp and enjoy the fights Saturday and remember to sign up for DraftKings to play tonight’s contest.
