RADIO
First of the three upcoming UFC Fight Night events on the schedule, but quite a nice sounding one as this weekend is labeled as the 50th UFC Vegas night as the promo goes to the Apex once more since it started doing so on Aug. 2020, a day smacked right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be, also, the last time at the complex until the UFC comes back more than a month from now after visiting London (UK), Columbus, and Jacksonville for the next three vents including UFC 273.
Focusing on this weekend, and although there will be no belts on the line, two fantastic performers in Santos and Ankalaev will be vying for a shot at the chip, though the latter is clearly closer to it than the former (who already got and dropped that chance against Jon Jones a few years ago). We have a six-fight main card on top of everything, as Dana knows how to take proper care of his promo's fans and thus will be filling the Octagon for us to enjoy the fireworks come Saturday. Can't complain!
In this article, I will be providing you with my fantasy MMA lineup picks for UFC Vegas 50: Santos vs. Ankalaev on 03/12/22. Give me a follow on Twitter @chapulana. Good luck!
DraftKings MMA Light Heavyweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Magomed Ankalaev, $9600 - vs. Thiago Santos
The difference in terms of experience is clear between these two, but so are the results, even more of late. Santos will be getting inside the Octagon for the 23rd time next Saturday (under the UFC banner) when he faces Ankalaev, who will be doing so just for the ninth time himself. The problem is that the wide gap between those 22 and eight fights to date might not help Santos that much, as he's 1-3 since he dropped the first fight of those four in Jul. 2019, went for three straight defeats, and only last October could finally recover with a full 25-minute decision W against Johnny Walker.
Ankalaev, on the other hand, only dropped his debut fight at the start of 2018 and has yet to add another L to his resume. So far, so good for Magomed, who is 7-0 since that loss and got four of those seven victories early with three first-round KOs and the other one in the third round of that particular fight. Ankalaev can do it both on striking (thus, the KOs) and taking foes down (6-of-19 since the start of 2019), and he's inching closer than ever to a shot at the belt. Santos is looking to keep his bounceback going with a win against one of the better men out there, but Ankalaev seems to be on an unstoppable way toward that championship fight and I don't think that'll change this weekend.
DraftKings MMA Bantamweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Song Yadong, $9200 vs. Marlon Moraes
If you read the section above about the main event of Saturday's card, well, you can pretty much remove Santos' name and flip it for that of Moraes and you'd pretty much have a pinpoint accurate description of the Brazilian's career of late. Since Moraes faced Henry Cejudo for the Bantamweight belt back in Jun. 2019 (Moraes got KO'd), all Moraes has done is go 1-3 with that lone win taking place in Dec. 2019 and the following defeats all happening from Oct. 2020 on... all of them via KO to make it all even more concerning.
Yadong, on the other hand, is 3-1 from May 2020 on and 4-1-1 since Jul. 2919. The volume of strikes Yadong throws per minute is staggering, and on a full-fight basis, it's virtually impossible to see him drop below the 130 SSA mark (he only did once in his past four fights, though that was mostly because he finished his opponent in just 6:35 minutes of fighting time. None of these two fighters profile as true grappling/takedown maestros, and the most obvious thing to spot in their resumes is the contrast between Moraes recent issues with getting KO'd (three in a row) and the fact that Yadong 1) shows impressive volume nightly and 2) he's coming off knocking down his most recent opponent just four months ago. No contest here, folks.
DraftKings MMA Featherweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Sodiq Yusuff, $9100 - vs. Alex Caceres
Shout out, Arnold Allen! Yes, kudos to the man because he's the lone fighter in the UFC that has been able to stop Yusuff and prevent the then still-perfect fighter to notch his fifth consecutive W when he defeated Yusuff back in Apr. 2021. Other than that, again, Yusuff was 4-0 to start his career with two KO victories baked into that record. It took Allen a full 15-minute decision to get the W, but he surely got it after a rather upsetting outing by Yusuff (no takedowns, 42% SS landing rate on 113 SSA).
Caceres, a long-time veteran debuting 11 years ago, is right in the middle of his early-30s renaissance as he's gone 5-0 in his past five fights, all of them taking place from Jul. 2019 on. Caceres got those victories via decision (x3) and submission (x2) including two early finishes in his last three fights. It's not that Caceres is a takedown chaser, not even close to it, but he knows when to apply the submission abilities. Even with this late resurgence, Caceres might struggle a bit this weekend against a fantastic talent in Yusuff--at the end of the day, Yusuff only lost one fight and he did against another phenom in a still-perfect and 8-0 Arnold Allen, who barely edged him. I'd say with the younger Yusuff to rebound and get his fifth W career-wise.
DraftKings MMA Light Heavyweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Khalil Rountree Jr., $8000 - vs. Karl Roberson
Fight of very random and mediocre performers in the UFC circuit since they did it for the first time in 2016 (Rountree) and 2017 (Roberson). None of the two fighters has already reached five victories, and their most-recent records (from 2019 on) would read 2-3 for Roberson and 2-2 for Rountree. Meh. In few words, Roberson is a sub-or-get-subbed fighter while Rountree is an all-or-nothing proposition of the knockdown front.
Rountree got a KO-win his last time out last September after having lost his only other fight after Sep. 2019, thus finishing 2021 with a mediocre 1-1 even record. Roberson also fought two times since the end of 2019, though he got subbed twice for a not-so-perfect 0-2 record in that span surrendering both Ls inside the first five minutes of fighting time and doing pretty much nothing against his foes in those seconds he lasted. This is a losers' fight worth avoiding, but Rountree's knockdown prowess has me slightly leaning toward him for Saturday's fight and DK contests. Not very convinced about it, though.
DraftKings MMA Lightweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Terrance McKinney, $7200 - vs. Drew Dober
One of the latest walking miracles to grace the Octagon, McKinney is 2-0 since he debuted in the UFC as recently as last June when he dropped Matt Frevola with a seven-second knockout. Talk about efficiency. It didn't take T-Mac much more his last time out, as he went on to submit Fares Ziam in 2:11 minutes of fighting time last Feb. 26. Not bad, that is. He's now facing a very experienced fighter in Drew Dober, who has fought eight times as many bouts as McKinney has to date in Dana's promotion.
Dober is not going through his best stint, though, having dropped his two 2021 fights via submission and decision. Nothing to be too worried about, though, considering he had won the prior three with three KOs in a row (two of them inside the 1:10 first minutes of fighting time, the other one a second-rounder), two of them happening no later than in 2020. Dober has shown some takedown-chasing here and there, but he's just not adept at it. Both of these two are natural finishers, so this looks more like a flier-fight of sorts rather than anything else. And if I had to bet, I'd lean McKinney at least until someone proves capable of finding a way of stopping this hurricane of a man.
