RADIO
Second event to take place in Vegas this month, and the second in a row after having two numbered ones to close October and open November. We can't truly complain that much. I mean, we got to watch the likes of Blachowicz and Usman in the last 20 days, and that Vegas 42 night wasn't nearly as bad as someone wanted to make it look with a mighty Holloway leading the way. And we're entering a two-week hiatus after this Saturday, so we better enjoy the hell out of UFC Vegas 43.
Miesha Tate will keep her comeback tour going against Ketlen Vieira after their previously-scheduled fight was canned due to COVID-19 reasons back in the Oct. 16 event. Taila Santos will try to keep making history as she's the current and all-time record-holder of takedown success rate with a perfect 8-for-8 (only 100% fighter with at least 8 TDA). More fireworks are spread around the main- and under-card fights, so it's not that this is looking like a dud, folks.
In this article, I will be providing you with my fantasy MMA lineup picks for UFC Vegas 43: Vieira vs. Tate on 11/20/21. Give me a follow on Twitter @chapulana. Good luck!
DraftKings MMA Women's Bantamweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Ketlen Vieira, $7900 - vs. Miesha Tate
The tale of these two fighters is very similar. Tate has fought a couple more times than Vieira in the UFC, and of course, she just came back to the promo as recently as last July, but the truth is that if we don't take those dates into account their fighting resumes look pretty much the same: a good bunch of victories in the early days, a slight losing skid, and a rebound--only Vieira has lost one after that "rebound" in her last fight taking place last February.
Tate retired from the MMA world all the way back in 2016, eight months after getting crowned champ. Four and a half years later all she did was come back last July to face Marion Reneau and drop her with a KNO in 11:53 minutes of fighting time. Vieira was on an unstoppable ascension through her first four bouts, only to lose in 4:51 to Irene Aldana in Dec. 2019 via KO. She's won one and lost another fight since then. Truth be told, none of these two is a fantasy marvel. Tate rocking her foe after coming back was great, but if I have to go for the higher FP score I'd slightly lean Vieira given her higher-end takedown game.
DraftKings MMA Welterweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Sean Brady, $8900 - vs. Michael Chiesa
Typical UFC Fight Night bout pitting a vet against a newcomer. The model never fails. We have Chiesa on one corner, he of the 15 fights in the promo starting back in Feb. 2013; and we have Brady on the other corner, he of the four wins in four fights since he debuted in Oct. 2019, barely a couple of years ago. Chiesa was always good-not-great, never amounting for a streak of Ws longer than three victories in his peak before finally putting it together in the 2018-to-2021 span, only to get submitted last August in just 3:25 minutes. Ugh.
Brady is obviously not a freshman per se but compared to Chiesa's UFC experience Sean's pales. Anyway, Brady is 4-0 with a couple of early finishes (both via submission) in his resume, both coming in the past year of fights, his most recent taking place last March. Brady is only 14th in the WW division, but it's not that he could have done more. It's an uphill battle toward champ Kamaru Usman, but he's slowly but surely getting there. Chiesa's upside is all on the grappling game, and while Brady has a very similar profile when it comes to striking volume, at least he put up a 119-of-210 SS in his debut. The takedowns are magnificent from Brady, as he's gone 9-of-15 in his four fights and he looks like the man to go with here.
DraftKings MMA Bantamweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Kyung Ho Kang, $8200 - vs. Rani Yahya
Rani has been doing it forever, yet he's never gathered enough steam as to become a real threat to the reigning BW champs through his 10-year UFC tenure, missing on appearing in even one title fight. Yahya is a 12-3-2 fighter, mind you, and has won tons of fights early thanks to his submission prowess--that includes his last one against Ray Rodriguez, a second-round sub last March. Kyung, on the other hand, started slow but then stringed three-and-three Ws sandwiching a loss smack right in the middle of those two runs.
Ho Kang, though, was out of the UFC from 2014 to 2018 due to fulfilling the mandatory South Korean military service. He's 4-1 since returning and enters Saturday on a three-fight winning streak that includes a first-round submission of Teruto Ishihara in UFC 234. These two are grapplers. Full stop. Don't expect striking fireworks, though Ho Kang has a little edge over Yahya on that department. Both are adept at attempting and landing TDs, but once more the Korean has been better of late and should be the one getting the W and the higher FP-tally this weekend.
DraftKings MMA Women's Featherweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Taila Santos, $9200 - vs. Joanne Calderwood
Did Taila Santos have the best debut ever? No, sir. Did she come back roaring to three consecutive Ws? You bet. Santos dropped her first fight to Mara Romero in 2019 but she is now on an unstoppable streak of victories spanning from July 2020 to Sep. 2021 and her numbers are absolutely staggering. Santos has averaged 83 SSA per fight (all of them going the distance) and only once dropped from launching 95 or landing at least 36 of them. That's good, but what is great is her ridiculous 8-for-8 perfect takedown record. She's the only fighter ever (to this day, of course) with at least 8 TD attempted and a perfect success rate.
Calderwood is no joke, either, and is a grizzled veteran with 12 fights under her belt already, starting in 2015. The problem for Joanne, though, is the shakiness she's shown of late alternating Ws and Ls in her last six fights. It's been more than three years since her last early-finish victory (submission) and more worryingly she herself got submitted by Jennifer Maia a year ago, something that could very well happen again this weekend given Santos' takedown prowess. Calderwood has a freakish striking volume/landing rate and some grappling game, but honestly, that 8-for-8 TDA-TDL from Santos is too appealing for me to pass on the dog.
DraftKings MMA Bantamweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Davey Grant, $7100 - vs. Adrian Yanez
Perhaps the most contrasting fight among those part of the main card this weekend, Grant and Yanez have little to do with each other when it comes to their fighting profiles. Grant has the experience as he's been around since 2016 and is sitting at a still-positive 4-3 record that only Marlon Vera could prevent from being a 5-2 with four straight victories this past June after defeating Grant. Yanez is a 3-0 fighter digging his way toward title contention... assuming he can keep his winning ways up--he's knocked out all of his three foes to date.
While Grant also KO'd a couple of his late opponents (both of them from July 2020 on), he's got a more complete package as he's gone for 23 takedowns in his career while pulling off 12 of them for an above 50-percent success rate. Yanez, on the other hand, has yet to attempt even one single takedown in his career. Obviously, it's not that the latter has needed them at all thanks to his ridiculous KO-prowess. But Grant also has some spicy mojo on that front while adding the always-welcomed grappling fantasy points, so he's the clear play here even with Yanez feeling unstoppable.
