UFC Fight Night 69 Kountermove Preview

The UFC returns to Germany this Saturday with Poland’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk making her strawweight title defense since finishing Carla Esparza to take the belt back at UFC 185. The card has been hit by an especially large number of injuries which has hurt the name quality of the event but we should still be in for a number of fun fights this weekend. Not to mention the card takes place during the day for viewers in North America, which has become one of my new favorite time slots for the occasional event. 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. 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.   Despite being the most expensive fighter on the card, Joanna Jedrzejczyk ($5,500) is my top KM pick for the weekend. Jessica Penne has got the grappling ability and submission skills to make this fight competitive if it hits the ground but I don’t think it will come in to play with the elite takedown defense that Jedrzejczyk has shown in last two fights. Neither Gadelha nor Esparza were able to keep Jedrzejczyk down for any significant amount of time, and Penne doesn’t have the offensive wrestling to do any better. Her takedowns are based primarily from the clinch where Jedrzejczyk’s striking can do some serious damage to the former Invicta FC atomweight champ. Penne will likely then be forced to strike with the champ at range where there is a sizeable skill difference. In Penne’s last fight with Randa Markos, she didn’t show the type of striking defense that would lead me to believe that she can be even remotely competitive against Jedrzejczyk and I think it will show early on in this fight. I’m picking the champ to beat Penne up in the clinch and from range throughout the first round before finishing Penne in the second round. There are a number of good cheap picks on this card so you should have no problem working the champ in to your KM team this weekend. Her aggressive striking output and finishing ability will make her worth the spot on your team.

2.   The cheap pick I like this weekend is without a doubt Makwan Amirkhani ($4,400). I don’t think Amirkhani is as elite of a striker as he seemed against Andy Ogle, but I definitely think he is skilled enough to beat his FN 69 opponent Masio Fullen on the feet. Fullen is a Team Mexico member from TUF Latin America where he got beat up on the feet and ultimately finished in his first fight in the house. I think this ends up being another showcase fight for Amirkhani, with ‘Mr. Finland’ having the advantage wherever the fight takes place. I think he’ll hurt Fullen on the feet before Fullen tries to take the fight to the ground out of desperation. Is the fight hits the ground Amirkhani will have the even bigger advantage, having finished 8 of his 11 wins by submission, and will likely be able to end the fight. I think he’s one of the more likely fighters to secure a first round finish and at $4,400 makes an excellent addition to your roster.

3.   A fighter I’m staying away from this weekend, who is also one of the more expensive options on the card, is Poland’s Piotr Hallman ($5,400). I think his fight with the UFC’s newest Russian prospect Magomed Mustafaev is going to be a close one and don’t think Hallmann is worth the high price tag. I actually think Mustafaev ($4,200) gets the better of Hallmann and might be worth a spot of your team if you need a cheap pick and aren’t a fan of Amirkhani. Hallmann is also coming off of testing positive for drostanolone in his last fight with Gleison Tibau and there isn’t much of an indication of how much it has affected him. There are a number of great picks on this card who are significantly cheaper than the Polish lightweight. This is a card where you can pick a solid team and still have a significant amount of budget left over so it’s especially important not to pick expensive fighters just because you can afford them.

Good luck this weekend!

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