The mixed martial arts (MMA) fantasy website Kountermove is back with another freeroll for MMAOddsBreaker.com readers. If you’re not familiar with how the site works, here’s a brief snippet from the site owners, themselves.
Kountermove brings the traditional fantasy format to MMA. Accumulation of points and a salary cap make fantasy MMA more intriguing than your basic “pick ’em” contest. With other industry pros on the site it is the place to be if you know your MMA. The game is fairly simple on its face, games are played over a single night during one event. Prior to the event, players get a total of $25,000 fantasy dollars to pick five fighters for your team. Each fighter is given a specific salary by Kountermove. Kountermove assigns a value for each fighter based on how we believe the fight will go. Points are scored if a fighter scores a finish, wins a round, lands significant strikes, knocks an opponent down, scores takedowns, secures dominant positions or attempts submissions. The more dominant your fighters’performance, the more points you’re going to score. If you score more points than your opponents, then you win the money.
To enter the free $250 tournament for MMAOddsBreaker.com readers, just click the link below: https://www.kountermove.com/join/20784-fn-35-mma-oddsbreaker-250-tourney-on-ufc-fight-night-35-rockhold-vs-philippou-T-free/ If you don’t have an account, don’t worry, you can create one for free, but do it quickly, spacing is limited! If you’re interested in a few pointers on potential fighters to pick, I’ll be offering my analysis and potential picks to click. In case you have your doubts, I have a very nice track record of success with the website, having won plenty since its inception. Before I get to my picks, remember that to get the best value out of your team, you have to try to get an average of $5000 per fighter with your team of five fighters and your $25,000 salary cap. That means if you want to pick a big favorite from UFC Fight Night 35 like Trevor Smith ($5600), you have to balance it out by picking some underdogs that you think will perform above and beyond. Sometimes it’s not worth it to pick the overwhelming favorite. Without further ado, here are some of the picks that stand out for me: Luke Rockhold ($5300): Rockhold is the biggest betting favorite on the entire card, so to me, he’s absolutely worth paying $300 over the average just to get him on your team. Rockhold is younger, better on the ground and is bigger with a longer reach than main event opponent Costa Philippou. Add in that this is a five round fight, something only Rockhold has experience with due to his stint as the Strikeforce middleweight champion, and you’ve got a recipe for something special. Even if this fight goes the distance, Rockhold should be able to put plenty of points on the board due to his high pace, hit commitment to throwing kicks and his finishing ability. Both men are coming off tough losses, but I feel Rockhold has all the tools to be the one to get back on track. Underdog Pick of the Night Yoel Romero ($4400): A former Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling for Cuba, Romero is an absolute freak athlete. Training out of American Top Team, the “Soldier of God” has put together an incredibly impressive resume thus far in his fight career. Since dropping down to the middleweight division, he’s gone 2-0 thus far with two brutal knockouts of Clifford Starks and Ronny Markes. Romero packs a punch, moves well, is highly explosive and is a very diverse striker, capable of throwing anything from hook kicks to brutal flying knees. He’s much more diverse than opponent Derek Brunson, and has adapted his skillset to the striking realm very well considering his grappling background. Factor in that Brunson was knocked out in less than a minute by another freak grappling athlete in Jacare Souza, and you’ve got a recipe for a big night. Fighter to Avoid Trevor Smith ($5600): Smith won “Fight of the Night” in his UFC debut, a loss to Ed Herman last year. He’s a decent brawler on the feet who actually relies more on his submission game, although his takedowns are not very good. People are hyping him up due to having an exciting bout last time, but don’t forget how hittable he is on the feet. Against an opponent like Brian Houston, who’s going to be entering this bout highly motivated, Smith could be asking for trouble. Best case scenario Smith could pull something out of his hat, but you’re taking a huge risk if you put him on your team, especially if he just plods forward and walks right into a big right hand. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Complete UFC Fight Night 35 Preview If my fantasy preview isn’t enough for you, myself, Reed Kuhn and MMA Oddsmaker Nick Kalikas did an extensive preview of the entire UFC Fight Night 35 fight card in part one of the Premium Oddscast, which was posted yesterday. Feel free to check out our latest episode, there’s plenty of combinations for great teams with 12 total bouts for this event:
Thanks for reading and good luck!