Sherdog MMA Pick’Em: UFC 143

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UFC 143 “Diaz vs. Condit” on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas provides the next chance for mixed martial arts fans to put their knowledge to use in Sherdog MMA Pick’Em, the site’s groundbreaking fantasy game. Registration is available through Sherdog.com and Facebook. The game made its debut on Jan. 7, with Strikeforce “Rockhold vs. Jardine,” and continued with UFC 142 “Aldo vs. Mendes” on Jan. 14, UFC on FX 1 “Guillard vs. Miller” on Jan. 20 and UFC on Fox 2 “Evans vs. Davis” on Jan. 28.

A five-round interim welterweight title bout between former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz and onetime WEC kingpin Carlos Condit will headline UFC 143.

Diaz (26-7) will carry an 11-fight winning streak into the cage. He last appeared at UFC 137 in October, when he returned to the Octagon for the first time in nearly five years and throttled former two-division champion B.J. Penn en route to a unanimous decision. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Cesar Gracie, the 28-year-old Stockton, Calif., native has secured 21 of his 26 career wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Diaz holds a 7-4 mark in the UFC.

Anchored at Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts in his native Albuquerque, N.M., Condit has rattled off 12 victories in his past 13 outings. The 27-year-old has not competed since UFC 132 in July, when he took out the previously unbeaten Dong Hyun Kim with a flying knee and follow-up punches. A dynamic offensive fighter, Condit sports 26 finishes among his 27 professional wins. He has never been stopped via strikes.

In the UFC 143 co-main event, two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Fabricio Werdum will collide with “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 winner Roy Nelson. The remainder of the main draw features a welterweight duel pairing Josh Koscheck with Mike Pierce, a bantamweight tilt pitting Renan “Barao” Pegado against fellow WEC import Scott Jorgensen and a middleweight clash matching “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 finalist Ed Herman with the undefeated Clifford Starks.

Within Sherdog MMA Pick’Em, players will earn points based on correct match-by-match predictions for a given event. A maximum of 210 points can be picked up in a single match.

Players are awarded 50 points for each correct pick, along with 30 additional points if they choose the correct method: decision, knockout/technical knockout or submission. If the method involves a finish, 30 additional points will be awarded to players who choose the correct round in which the finish occurs. Players are also allowed five boosts per event through which they can notch an additional 100 points for outcomes about which they feel particularly certain. However, any incorrect selections involving boosts will cost the player 50 points.