The Ultimate Fighting Championship holds no short of a dozen mixed martial arts bouts nearly every Saturday with no real offseason. As one of the most unique DFS sweats available, UFC daily fantasy is live on FanDuel.
The strategy behind this fantasy sport is intriguing. Given that two fighters face off against each other, and some fights end in seconds, choosing which side to back is crucial, and there is a wide range of outcomes. However, getting the winner fighter isn't all that matters. They've also got to land enough strikes, takedowns, or submission attempts to score points, too!
numberFire is always the best spot to get you ready for any UFC card. If you would rather bet on the fights, our betting guide is a great place to find value on Saturday's card. In addition to this primer, I also dove deeper into the slate on this week's UFC edition of The Heat Check Daily Fantasy Podcast.
Without further delay, let's break down UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochahzka, taking place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on Saturday night.
MVP Considerations
Jiri Prochazka ($22): Of all ranked UFC fighters, Prochazka checked in fifth in overall FanDuel scoring in my study two weeks ago. That's generally a guy you don't want to avoid in UFC DFS, but Glover Teixeira is a strange matchup. There's no doubt Teixeira's submission skills will give him a chance in this fight, but with just one submission loss in 32 pro fights, Jiri probably isn't lost grappling. Prochazka's elite pace (7.19 significant strikes landed per minute) for a man his size has wilted two former title challengers in his only two UFC bouts, and the 42-year-old Teixeira just doesn't have a ton of durability left in the tank.
Weili Zhang ($18): When Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk ($12) met in February 2020, the two landed 351 significant strikes combined in a frenetic title fight. This one is only scheduled for three rounds, but that means these two ladies can empty the tank early. Zhang has hinted she'd like for this to not be a striking match, but with just a 31% takedown accuracy, I don't know if she can control that. The bout figures to be another striking match where Zhang has a substantial power advantage that left visible damage on Joanna last time. This fight is -220 to go the distance, but if it doesn't, it's likely Weili landed the seminal blow.
Other High-Salaried Fighters
Brendan Allen ($21): Allen's grappling-heavy approach makes him hard to trust at MVP, but he's absolutely capable of a finish here. He'll draw Jakob Malkoun, the training partner of former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Malkoun has used his wrestling (6.93 takedowns per 15 minutes) to grind out two UFC wins, but he still holds the 45% striking defense that saw him knocked out in seconds by Phil Hawes. Allen will have a clear edge when striking, but at 1.70 submission attempts per 15 minutes, "All In" also has more fight-ending danger on the mat. He's a -330 favorite for good reason.
Steve Garcia ($19): With no disrespect meant personally to Maheshate, I'm unsure how he landed this premier spot on a UFC pay-per-view. He landed just 29% of his significant strike attempts in an uninspiring win on Dana White's Contender Series. We've seen Garcia twice now in UFC, and he's posted positive results on the feet (+2.26 striking success rate) and wrestling (1.91 takedowns per 15 minutes). Garcia has won or gone the full distance against multi-time UFC winners Luis Pena and Ronnie Lawrence, so there's a massive experience advantage in the corner of "Mean Machine".
Others to Consider: Jack Della Maddalena ($17), Kyung-Ho Kang ($16)
Value Fighters
Taila Santos ($13): If you want to be unique, here's a great opportunity. Dominant 125-pound champion Valentina Shevchenko is a -720 favorite on the other side of Santos, but the challenger shares an eerily-close analytical profile on her rise up the rankings. Shevchenko went to the fourth round with Lauren Murphy and saw the entire distance against Jennifer Maia, and at 34 years old on the other side of an ACL recovery, she's probably not going to ramp up the pace moving forward. With two extra rounds scheduled, Santos can rack FanDuel points as this fight progresses, but don't discount her ability to dethrone the flyweight queen.
Ramona Pascual ($11): Sometimes, I simply don't understand a betting line. Joselyne Edwards has been completely neutralized in two straight fights due to her poor 47% takedown defense. Both Karol Rosa and Jessica-Rose Clark earned over 11 minutes of control time against her. She's inexplicably a -184 favorite over Ramona Pascual, who covered the spread against Josi Nunes in her debut. Not only was she not knocked out, but she landed three takedowns and over three minutes of control on the explosive puncher. Nunes has three career knockdowns to Edwards' zero, so with even less of a power threat than her debut, this one has Pascual winning via ugly lay-and-pray written all over it.
Others to Consider: Na Liang ($15), Jake Matthews ($14), Joanna Jedrzejczyk ($12), Josh Culibao ($9)