...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Saturday's UFC 181 event brings two highly anticipated title fights, and it means another chance to make a little money in fantasy MMA via our friends at Kountermove.com. If you've never played a game at Kountermove before, read on for details on the game, some of our thoughts on the available options this weekend, and a link to MMATorch's freeroll for the event.
First up, the rules. In Kountermove, each fighter on a given card is given a set salary for that night, and your job is to put together your best five man (or woman) team within a cap of $25,000. Come fight night, each fighter will score points for significant strikes, takedowns/reversals, knock downs, submission attempts, and dominant positions.
Once a fight has finished, fighters receive bonus points depending on how the fight ended. A first round finish brings 100 points, second round 75, with 50 coming for a finish in the third, fourth, or fifth rounds. Additionally, if a fight goes to a decision, any rounds won score ten points for your fighter (example, a 30-27 decision would score 30 points for the winner).
The best combined scores each event will win prize money, which is split up amongst the pool depending on the amount of players, the entry fee, and how much money is available.
For this weekend's pay-per-view card, I'll run down my top pick, the fighter I'm avoiding, and the fighter I believe could be worth the underdog play.
Top Pick: Urijah Faber ($5400) - Anthony Pettis was another pick I thought about putting here, but while I do believe the Champ will retain his title in impressive fashion, there's that lingering doubt about Gilbert Melendez's ability to make this a tougher fight. So I think the other clear go to guy on Saturday is Faber, who simply has a fantastic track record in fights like this. Since losing the WEC Title to Mike Brown in 2009, Faber has gone 10-0 in non-title fights, and he's scored submission wins in eight of those. While Rivera's got knockout power, and went to decision in his last loss, he's also been stopped in the past, and he's simply outmatched on the ground here. Faber rolls to a high score on this card.
Fighter to Avoid: Johny Hendricks ($5400) - There's potential here for a big night from Hendricks, but with his wrestling game likely a bigger focal point of his strategy than the first Lawler fight, I don't know how much in the way of points he's going to be racking up in this one. There's also the possibility he gets knocked out in the early rounds. The upside isn't wholly clear, and of the highest salary cap hits on this card, Hendricks is one I'm least confident in as far as a high score is concerned.
Risk/Reward Dog: Josh Samman ($4600) - Eddie Gordon looked quite good in his surprising win over Dhiego Lima in the TUF 19 Finale. However, Lima's a natural welterweight returning to that division in his next fight, and while Samman's entering off a significant layoff, he's a natural finisher, with eight of his ten wins coming by stoppage. With few credible options with sub-$4800 picks on this event, Samman stands out with a legitimate chance to stop this fight.
Join our $50 freeroll on Kountermove for Saturday's game at the link below, but hurry because the spots fill fast!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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