UFC 186 Kountermove Preview + .10 Cent Game

The UFC returns to pay-per-view this weekend with UFC 186 in Montreal. The card is headlined by Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson’s sixth title defense against Kyoji Horiguchi. The card has had more than it’s share of bad luck having lost its original headliner of Dillashaw/Barao II, Macdonald/Lombard, and Rampage (Before just recently having him return to the card) but should still be a fun night of fights when it all goes down. To get you ready for the fights on Saturday, we’ve got your regular Kountermove breakdown including two picks I like and a fighter I’m staying away from. We’ve also got a .10 cent game with most of the prize pool being put up by Kountermove for Fightbooth readers. Before we get down to business, here’s a reminder from the founders of the site on how KM works and how fights are scored for anyone who’s new to the game:

“About Kountermove.  Kountermove, Inc. is currently the world’s leading Fantasy MMA community. Kountermove is like fantasy football or baseball, but for MMA. Our founders, Aaron Ard and Brian Knapp, are Jiu-jitsu black belts and IBJJF competitors.

Pick your team of 5 fighters. You are given a “salary cap” of $25,000 in fantasy money to spend on drafting your team of fighters you expect to perform well/win.

Each fighter is assigned a price that is reflective of his or her respective odds. For example, in UFC 167: GSP cost $6,000, while Johny Hendricks cost $5,000. Since Hendricks is the underdog, he cost less than GSP.

Score Points and Win. Once the fight card begins, you accumulate points based on how well your picks performed.

Winners are determined by the most points earned – points are awarded: strikes landed, submission attempts, knockdowns, dominant positions, rounds won, and knockout or submission bonuses.

Fight statistics are provided by FightMetric LLC, the UFC’s official stats provider.”

Here are a few extra links to get you accustomed to how the site works and how performances are scored.

How it works

Scoring

Remember this is fantasy sports, so you’re not only trying to pick a winner but someone you think will finish the fight or rack up a ton of points on their way to a decision. Don’t have a Kountermove account? All it takes is about 30 seconds and an email address so don’t panic, you’ve still got time before the fights start.

Here are three quick tips for the event that will hopefully help you make some cash on Saturday:

1.   The top pick for this weekend’s event in Montreal is going to be Thomas Almeida ($5,200). This is a good matchup but I don’t think it’s as close or as competitive as it looks at a glance. Yves Jabouin has alternated wins and rough TKO losses for his last five fights and I could see him continuing the pattern by getting put to sleep against the ultra-aggressive finisher Almeida. Almeida’s first fight in the UFC ended up going to decision but the absence of a finish was likely more of a result of some potential octagon jitters and Tim Gorman’s toughness than for a lack of trying. I think we see a few fun striking exchanges early in the first before Almeida gets warmed up and starts getting warmed up and starts really doing some damage. I think that damage is going to accumulate fast and end up getting Almeida an early finish, likely in the first round. For $5,200 I think he’s a great pick and one of the better locks for a finish on the card.

2.   A cheap pick I’m going with to make some space on my team for some pricier fighters is Jessica Rakoczy ($4,400). I think this fight likely stays on the feet more often than not with both fighters preferring the standup and although most people are picking Letourneau based on this one I think the value is definitely in the TUF 18 vet. Letourneau showed a tendency to brawl in her last bout with Elizabeth Phillips and I think that’s a strategy that could benefit the former professional boxer Rakoczy. I think she’ll end up winning most of the striking exchanges on her way to a decision and hopefully score you a good number of points with significant strikes. She’s not a pick I have a lot of confidence in to get a quick finish but I think she could provide some good value for such a low price tag.

3.   A pick I’m going to stay away on Saturday is Chad Laprise ($5,500), despite me both being a fan and thinking he’ll win at UFC 186. He’s up against Brian Barberena in what should be a pretty close fight but I see Laprise winning by decision more often than finding a finish. Barberena is also a pretty dangerous opponent having finished 9 of his 10 pro bouts and I wouldn’t be absolutely shocked to see him finish the Canadian favourite if he lands something ugly. Again if I was just picking straight winners Laprise would be a decent enough bet but I just don’t see enough KM value for a price tag of $5,500. On the other hand Bryan Barberena ($4,100) could end up being a great pick if he does walk away with the finish so if you absolutely need another cheap fighter he might be worth it as a high-risk/high-reward choice.

 Getting a piece of the game is as easy as following the link below & picking your team.

Fightbooth’s UFC 186 .10 Cent Game

Good luck this weekend!

Questions? Suggestions? Give me a shout on twitter @BlackEyeBowtie

(Cover photo by Sherdog/Andy Hemingway)