Fantasy Advisor: UFC 187 ‘Johnson vs. Cormier’
Fantasy sports are a way of life. This has become more and more apparent to me as I have spent the last year working inside an office environment. In March, water cooler chatter is dominated by one question: “How is your bracket looking?” In the fall: “Who are you using this week as your quarterback?” In the summer: “Why can’t I seem to catch a break when it comes to RBIs this season?” Fantasy sports are also why Los Angeles can go without a hometown NFL franchise and still pack a sports bar on any given Sunday. The fantasy bug has bitten mixed martial arts, too, and let me tell you, it is a lot more fun than you might think.
Kountermove.com is my fantasy MMA site of choice. It works on the one-day-season model. Take any given card, build a roster of five fighters with a $25,000 payroll, sit back and watch your team go to war. Play for free and earn bragging rights, or throw down a little scratch and see if you can pull out a couple bucks when the night is over. I have deposited about $25 over the last year, and I have withdrawn more than $300. How? Common sense and, of course, and a bit of luck.
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Kountermove scores strikes, submission attempts, takedowns and reversals, knockdowns, dominant positions, etc. Your fighters will also be rewarded for winning fights and the method they use to do so. Fighters are priced base on their odds to win, the fashion in which they win, etc. Ronda Rousey, for example, is going to cost $5,000-plus of your virtual currency. Generally, she is a great investment, as you are probably going to earn 100 or more points for a first-round armbar submission.
With UFC 187 set for Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, I am going to give you some pointers on how to decide who should be on your team. One factor to keep in mind: Once Kountermove releases the fighter prices, they are set in stone. If a rumor surfaces that a fighter is ill or if a fighter misses weight, the price is not going to change. I like to put together an initial roster and tweak it as the week moves along. I give it one final look after the weigh-ins and compare the prices to the actual betting lines. Once the weigh-ins are complete, you can get a pretty good idea what the betting public is saying, and it can be quite eye opening when playing fantasy MMA.
Other factors to consider: championship and main event matchups, fighting styles and offensive output. Quantity can go a long way at times. If a fighter is scheduled for 25 minutes, sometimes an underdog is worth a play in a main event if you are fairly certain the fight is going to go the distance. Fantasy games are won and lost with the cheaper fighters you play.
For example, ahead of UFC 187, I am picking Anthony Johnson for my Kountermove team despite my belief that he will lose to Daniel Cormier. I have spent quite a bit of money on the fighters I feel are locks. With Johnson scheduled for five rounds, his ability to score upsets with his knockout power and his steal of a price tag at $4,800, I think he is a lock for offensive output and a decent underdog. Another and perhaps even safer bargain is Donald Cerrone at $4,500. “Cowboy” has been on a roll and could provide a nice return for you team if you choose to spend bigger elsewhere on the card. Plus, when was the last time you saw Cerrone fight passively?
Because this is our first fantasy breakdown, I have spent most of my efforts giving you the general idea behind Kountermove and how you should consider building your team. Next time, we will dig a little deeper into the particulars. Best of luck this weekend, and be sure to sign up for our $100 Kountermove Freeroll.
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