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After last week's spectacular event in Perth, Australia, UFC returns home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, for UFC Vegas 96. At UFC 305, we've seen the middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis defend his title for the first time against his rival and former middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya. We've seen Kai Kara-France return to winning ways when he knocked out Steve Erceg in the first round. Let's hope this week's UFC Vegas 96 is as good as last week's UFC 305 event.
UFC Vegas 96 will be headlined by fifth-ranked Jared Cannonier and 12th-ranked Caio Borralho, while the co-main event features a strawweight bout between ninth-ranked Angela Hill and 11th-ranked Tabatha Ricci. Prelims are headlined by Zach Reese and Jose Medina. The undercard also has Viacheslav Borschev facing off against James Llontop.
In this article, I will be providing you with my fantasy MMA lineup picks for UFC Vegas 96: Cannonier vs. Borralho on 08/24/24. Give me a follow on X @sumpor5. Good luck!
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DraftKings MMA Middleweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Jared Cannonier, $7,600 - vs. Caio Borralho
Former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier and Caio Borralho are scheduled for a middleweight showdown on the main card of UFC Vegas 96 this Saturday. After putting together back-to-back wins against Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori, Cannonier was eyeing a title shot against middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Unfortunately for him, he suffered a controversial fourth-round TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Louisville this past June.
"THERE'S YOUR STATEMENT MADE" ✅
Jared Cannonier makes the final walk of the night Saturday at #UFCVegas96! pic.twitter.com/fYYx6VBOhO
— UFC (@ufc) August 19, 2024
After several co-main event outings at Fight Night events, Borralho is scheduled for his first UFC main event. Borralho is a perfect 6-0 in the UFC, in addition to a pair of victories on Dana White's Contender Series. Though Borralho has never seen championship rounds, his cardio has seemed good enough to win three-round decisions.
In his UFC career, Borralho has defeated Michal Oleksiejczuk, Paul Craig, Abus Magomedov, and Makhmud Muradov.
Borralho usually uses his wrestling and grappling to dominate his opponents but he has completely abandoned that game plan in his last two fights against Magomedov and Craig. He is no slouch in the striking department, either, as he's just a low-volume striker, landing 2.91 significant strikes per minute.
Although he isn't a so-called specialist in any particular area, he is a solid all-around fighter with no noticeable weaknesses. He averages 1.99 takedowns per 15 minutes.
In contrast to Borralho, Cannonier likes to keep the fight standing and is known for his devastating knockout power. He is a pressure-heavy striker who likes to overwhelm his opponents with his power.
Cannonier lands 4.62 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy of 52%. Though he gets taken down often, holding him down is a hard task. His takedown defense is 76%.
Cannonier is the underdog in this fight and it's not a surprise considering he's 40 years old. Borralho has looked outstanding thus far but we have seen him in his last two fights looking to strike. This is his first UFC main event and I have a feeling that he'll try to make this fight more exciting by keeping this fight standing a bit longer than he usually does.
In doing so, Borralho will leave an opening for Cannonier. I see Cannonier TKOing Borralho within three or four rounds.
DraftKings MMA Women's Strawweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Angela Hill, $8,200 - vs. Tabatha Ricci
Angela Hill and Tabatha Ricci are scheduled for a strawweight showdown in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 96 this Saturday. Hill has won four of her most recent five fights and is looking to extend her win streak to three, while Ricci looks to win her sixth UFC fight and enter the top 10.
Hill enters this fight with an MMA record of 17 wins and 13 losses. This will be her 26th Octagon appearance, and over 10 years, she has gone 12-13 in the UFC. Among her wins, five were achieved by knockouts, one via submission, and 11 by decisions.
She is on a two-fight win streak since losing a five-round unanimous decision to Mackenzie Dern last May. In her last bout, Hill dominated Luana Pinheiro before earning herself her first submission win.
Ricci is 5-2 in the UFC since joining the promotion in 2021. She has won five of her most recent six bouts. In her most recent fight, Ricci bounced back from a split decision loss to Loopy Godinez when she defeated Raquel Pennington by a split decision. Out of her 10 wins, one came by knockout, three by submission, and six by decisions.
Hill is considered to be one of the division's most technical strikers. She is averaging 5.33 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 49%. Her takedown accuracy of 33% and her takedown defense is 76%.
On the other hand, Ricci is averaging 4.28 significant strikes per minute and has a striking defense of 60%. When it comes to wrestling, Ricci is averaging 2.99 takedowns per every 15 minutes. She has a takedown accuracy of 35% and her takedown defense is 77%.
"Overkill" has been working actively to improve her ground game after having trouble in previous fights and it was evident in her last fight when she scored her first submission victory. She is going to have an edge over Ricci in a kickboxing match while Ricci will have an advantage when it comes to wrestling and grappling.
I just don't know if Ricci will be able to take and hold Hill down considering that she wasn't very successful with takedowns in a few previous fights. I predict Hill will win via unanimous decision.
DraftKings MMA Middleweight - UFC DFS Lineup Picks
Edmen Shahbazyan, $9,000 - vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Edmen Shahbazyan and Gerald Meerschaert are scheduled to open the main card of UFC Vegas 96 on Saturday. In his last bout, Shahbazyan got back in the win column by knocking out AJ Dobson. He's 2-3 in his last five fights and is looking to keep the momentum going.
Just like Shahbazyan, Meerschaert got back in the win column in his last fight by defeating Bryan Barberena via rear-naked choke. Before that, Meerschaert was on a two-fight losing streak.
Shahbazyan is a well-rounded striker and grappler, but he does his best work on the feet. He has five wins in the UFC, all finishes, and four of them were in the first round. After 11-0 to start his MMA career, it was evident that Shahbazyan was not yet ready for the best middleweights.
He suffered brutal losses to many top fighters, including Derek Brunson, Jack Hermansson, Nassourdine Imavov, and Anthony Hernandez. After losing three in a row, Shahbazyan switched camps and has since gone 2-1.
Just like Shahbazyan, Meerschaert has been on the receiving end of some devastating losses. Before his submission win to Barberena, Meerschaert was on a two-fight losing streak, having been defeated by Joe Pyfer via TKO, and most recently by Andre Petroski via split decision.
Someone is likely going to get finished in this fight and I think that will be Meerschaert. Shahbazyan will have a considerable edge on the feet, while Meerschaert will have the edge on the ground.
Meerschaert is known as a slow starter while Shahbazyan usually fades as the fight progresses. Although we've seen Meerschaert pull off some incredible comebacks, I just think Shahbazyan will catch Meerschaert early and knock him out.
