Fantasy Advisor: UFC 202 Diaz vs McGregor

(Sponsored Content) — Who takes the rematch – Diaz or McGregor? That’s the tough question you face as both a fight fan and as a fantasy player at this weekend’s much anticipated UFC 202: Diaz vs McGregor II. Which round? Via KO, TKO, sub or decision? Does Nate Diaz secure another early round sub or does “Mystic Mac” McGregor dish up the shock and awe with a vicious comeback win? You decide. If you have not already heard of fantasy MMA – you’ve surely heard of fantasy football. Same concept here folks, but it’s strikes, takedowns and early round finishes you want in lieu of touchdowns, rushed yards and pass completions. DraftKings fantasy MMA is an amazing way to compete against other fans for big cash prizes. You can even create your own private fantasy league to challenge friends – which is gives you a chance at a prize pool with the coveted bonus of bragging rights. With over $250K in total prizes up for grabs at this weekend’s card, including a $5,000 free to enter contest there’s no better event to build a kickass roster of fighters. From 10-12 bouts to choose from at each week’s Fight Night, players build a team of five picks, where it’s not just the win that matters. Once the card begins, your team of 5 fighters gain points by accruing significant strikes, takedowns, knockdowns, advances, and reversals/sweeps. Oh, and finishes are GOLD: Earn a bonus every time your fighter finishes their opponent, with more bonus points the earlier in the fight the finish comes. With 24 fighters to choose from, you’re looking for a value pick and a hidden underdog to distinguish your team from the rest. To get your team going, you could go study some film or poke around the Sherdog.com Fight Finder, but we’ve done the dirty work for you, breaking down each and every one of the fights on the card — providing top picks of the night and which fights you’re likely better off avoiding. Got to decide between Johnson, Teixeira, Cerrone or Story? … Let’s go!Want to play? Join this week’s $5,000 free contest before it’s too late.Welterweight bout (five rounds): Conor McGregor ($10,400) vs. Nate Diaz ($9,200) The first fight between these two rivals took place just five months ago in March, with Diaz emerging with a second-round submission victory as a massive underdog in a fight he took on short notice. McGregor badly wanted a rematch, and the UFC decided to run this one back. If it’s anything like the first fight, it should be an amazing fight for the fans to watch. In the first fight, McGregor did well early on, landing strikes and cutting Diaz open, but he wasn’t able to wobble Diaz and as the fight went on, he began to fatigue. Diaz, with his incredible cardio, took advantage of McGregor tiring, hurting him on the feet with his boxing and then tapping him out on the ground. Although I did pick McGregor in the first fight, after seeing that fight I have a hard time picking him in this rematch. It was very obvious in that fight McGregor’s knockout power at featherweight didn’t translate well to welterweight and I doubt five months of training is going to make much of a difference. McGregor probably won’t gas as quickly this time, but he’ll never have the cardio of Diaz, and although McGregor does have more KO power, Diaz has incredible boxing in his own right, and he has the grappling advantage if this fight does hit the ground. Diaz finished McGregor just a few months ago and even if McGregor makes adjustments, I see no reason why Diaz can’t do it again. I still think McGregor is an amazing fighter, but he should not be fighting bigger men at welterweight. I’m going with Diaz here, I think he finishes McGregor again and then potentially gets a lightweight title fight against Eddie Alvarez.Pick: DiazLight heavyweight bout: Anthony Johnson ($10,700) vs. Glover Teixeira ($8,700) Johnson has emerged as a serious threat since coming back to the UFC as a light heavyweight, going 5-1 overall with four knockout wins and his only loss coming to the champion Daniel Cormier. Johnson has some of them most brutal one-punch knockout power in the game today and he’s proven that with his wins over Alexander Gustafsson, Ryan Bader, Jimi Manuwa and Antonio Rogerio Nogueria. Still, his ground game isn’t the greatest, and that could come into play here against Teixeira. The Brazilian is 8-2 in the UFC with seven stoppage wins and is currently riding a three-fight win streak with all of those wins coming by way of stoppage, including a massive knockout win over Johnson’s training partner Rashad Evans his last time out. In his career, Teixeira has earned finishes in 22 of his 25 career victories, and he’s proven to be incredibly durable, having only been stopped once in 29 career fights, a knockout loss in his MMA debut 14 years ago. Although Johnson is an incredible fighter with scary knockout power, Teixeira is the more well-rounded fighter and if he can implement his grappling game he has a chance of pulling off the upset. There are always some underdogs who surprise on every card, and although it’s hard to go against Johnson, I feel like at this price there is some underdog value on Teixeira, and I’m going to pick him for the upset to get a submission win and potentially the next light heavyweight title shot against Cormier.Pick: TeixeiraWelterweight bout: Donald Cerrone ($10,000) vs. Rick Story ($9,400) Cerrone has won 10 of his last 11 fights and has looked incredible since moving up to welterweight, stopping Patrick Cote and Alex Oliveira in two incredible performances. Cerrone has an amazing muay Thai game to go along with a slick submission game and underrated wrestling, making him one of the most well-rounded fighters currently at 170lbs. And with 22 of his 30 career wins coming by way of finish, it’s certainly fair to …

continue reading in source www.sherdog.com