...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Dan Moore, MMATorch UK Contributor
One year after their first visit, the UFC returns to the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, for UFC on FUEL 9 this weekend. After a whirlwind week that ultimately took Alexander Gustafsson out of the event, Gegard Mousasi now takes on Ilir Latifi in the main event on the night whilst our main event sees champion Nick Williams one more win from automatic entry into the Torch Hall of Fame. Former champion Chris Wallner is the only man who can stop Nick from reaching the promise land.
I'll be in Sweden covering the event for Torch, so be sure to follow @mmatorch on Twitter for live updates if you can't watch it on TV.
We're still giving away prizes worth $100 (unless you work for MMA Torch!). I am recording the mean average scores for every competitor and the highest in both games will win $50 worth of goods from MMAwarehouse.com each.
Respective winners of the predictions and betting contests will each get $50 worth ($100 if you win both). Only selected fight cards taking place between 01 Jan - 30 Jun will count (We'll start over again for 01 Jul - 31 Dec 2013). Competitors will only be eligible if they have competed in 75% of the available cards. Anyone not reaching that target, won't be considered, even if they have the highest mean average.
All picks for UFC on FUEL 9 need to be submitted to dannymoore100@hotmail.com by no later than 15:00 GMT / 09:00 ET on Saturday (Please be aware of the earlier deadline this weekend).
MMA Torch Confidence Picks Championship Match Up
Nick Williams (Champion) vs. Chris Wallner (Challenger)
Everyone else will be battling it out in the pool for the right to face Nick, or Chris at UFC on FOX 7 (Henderson vs. Melendez) in two weeks.
MMA Torch Betting Picks Championship Match Up
Jimbo Slice (Champion) vs. Kevin Seng (Challenger)
Everyone else will be battling it out in the pool for the right to face Jimbo, or Kevin at UFC on FOX 7 (Henderson vs. Melendez) in two weeks.
UFC on FUEL 9 FIGHT CARD
Gegard Mousasi vs. Ilir Latifi
Ross Pearson vs. Ryan Couture
Matt Mitrione vs. Phil De Fries
Brad Pickett vs. Mike Easton
Diego Brandao vs. Pablo Garza
Akira Corassani vs. Robbie Peralta
Reza Madadi vs. Michael Johnson
Tor Troeng vs. Adam Cella
Chris Spang vs. Adlan Amagov
Marcus Brimage vs. Conor McGregor
Ben Alloway vs. Ryan LaFlare
Michael Kuiper vs. Tom Lawlor
Papy Abedi vs. Besam Yousef
CONFIDENCE PICKS GAME AND RULES
1. UFC on FUEL 9 is a 13 fight card. Therefore, the point values you assign must range from 13 (most confident) down to 1 (least confident).
2. Additionally, please list your prediction for method of victory, along with the round. Choose either TKO, KO, SUB, UD (Unanimous Decision) or SD (Split Decision).
3. Using UFC 155 as a template, here is how a simple entry might look:
12 - Cain Velasquez - TKO4
11 - Jim Miller - TKO1
10 - Tim Boetsch - SUB2
09 - Yushin Okami - UD
08 - Chris Leben - SUB1
07 - Brad Pickett - KO1
06 - Erik Perez - UD
05 - Jamie Varner - TKO2
04 - Myles Jury - SD
03 - Phil De Fries - SUB3
02 - Max Holloway - TKO1
01 - John Moraga - UD
4. When you email me your entry, please sort the entry numerically (as shown) from high to low. Thanks.
5. The first tie-breaker is the sum of confidence points. Using the examples above, an Anderson Silva victory would earn 11 points. Forrest Griffin winning would earn just 1 point, etc.
6. If two participants earn the same number of confidence points, the next tie-breaker will be the total number of winners predicted. If Player A earns 40 points on 7 winning picks, and Player B earns 40 points on 6 winning picks, Player A would be declared the winner.
7. The next tie-breaker is the number of victory methods predicted correctly. Next would be predicted rounds of victory. If both players are still tied at this point, both players will be declared the winner. If the tie is for a championship, they would match up again at the next event, along with the winner of the pool. If the tie occurs in the pool itself, both challengers would advance to face the champion at the next event.
BETTING GAME AND RULES
Here are the UFC on FUEL 9 betting lines:
Gegard Mousasi: -1100
Ilir Latifi: +650
Ross Pearson: -410
Ryan Couture: +330
Matt Mitrione: -320
Phil De Fries: +260
Brad Pickett: -165
Mike Easton: +145
Diego Brandao: -260
Pablo Garza: +160
Robbie Peralta: -380
Akira Corassani: +260
Michael Johnson: -230
Reza Madadi: +170
Adlan Amagov: -160
Chris Spang: +120
Tor Troeng: -260
Adam Cella: +180
Conor McGregor: -210
Marcus Brimage: +160
Ryan LaFlare: -185
Ben Alloway: +145
Tom Lawlor: -190
Michael Kuiper: +160
Besam Yousef: -110
Papy Abedi: +100
8. Using UFC 155 as a template again, here is how a simple entry might look:
$450 on Velasquez
$300 on Pickett
$50 on Leben
$200 Parlay on Leben, Varner and Moraga
9. Every player has $1000 of fake, imaginary, theoretical, play money to wager on each event. This is not a real money game, it is strictly for fun.
10. Players must place a bet of at least $50, but no more than $500, on each of 3 or more different fighters. Bets may be in any denomination, as long as the amount falls in the range of $50 - $500.
11. Players may also play a parlay bet. A parlay bet is a bet placed on multiple fighters. All fighters in the parlay must win their fights in order for the parlay to pay off. Parlay bets pay off at a higher rate than a bet on a single fighter. The parlay bet may be placed on either two or three fighters.
12. The minimum parlay bet is $50. The maximum parlay bet is $200. This money comes out of the $1000 alloted to each player. The parlay bet is NOT separate from the $1000 budget. A player is not required to play a parlay bet. The maximum number of parlay bets a player may wager is one.
13. Whether or not a player chooses to place a parlay bet, the player must still place at least three straight bets. It is not legal to place two bets on individual fighters and one parlay bet. No entry is considered valid unless there are a minimum of 3 straight bets placed on individual fighters.
14. If a fight ends in a draw, any money bet on said fighter will be refunded, with no fake money commission taken. If a fighter in a 3-fighter parlay is involved in a draw, that fighter will be removed from the parlay and the 3-fighter parlay will be treated as a 2-fighter parlay. If a fighter in a 2-fighter parlay is involved in a draw, that fighter will be removed from the parlay and the 2-fighter parlay will be treated as a straight bet on the remaining fighter.
FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS
15. If a fighter has a positive number such as +150 next to his name, he is the underdog, which means a successful bet on that fighter will pay off at a higher rate. That means that if the fighter wins, the bet will payout $150 net profit for every $100 bet on him. If a player were to bet $500 on a +150 fighter, and the fighter wins, the player will profit $750. If a player bets $500 on a +150 fighter, and the fighter loses, the player will lose his $500 bet.
16. If a fighter has a negative number such as -200 next to his name, he is the favourite, which means a successful bet on that fighter will pay off at a lower rate. That means that if the fighter wins, the bet will payout $100 net profit for every $200 bet on him. If a player were to bet $500 on a -200 fighter, and the fighter wins, the player will profit $250. If a player bets $500 on a -200 fighter, and the fighter loses, the player will lose his $500 bet.
Structure for each game
17. For each UFC numbered (or listed otherwise) event, both the Confidence Picks and Betting Game will feature a champion and a challenger facing off against one another. The winner of the head to head battle will be declared the reigning champion.
18. All other players for each UFC numbered (or listed otherwise) event will compete against each other for the right to face off against the reigning champion at the next UFC numbered event. This is known as The Pool.
19. As games administrator, I have the subjective right to eliminate any entry for any reason I deem worthy.
20. Entries may be submitted via email (dannymoore100@hotmail.com), or on the comment section of this post. Email is the preferred method, because if a player posts an invalid entry, I have no way to make sure I can get hold of the player so that it may be corrected. Please, under no circumstances should you both email and post on the board your entry. One or the other please, preferably via email.
21. If you have any questions, please email me and ask.
Final Note
22. A player does not need to play both games during each event. Players may choose to submit an entry for one game or the other, or for both, at their own choosing.
Follow me on Twitter, @MMATorchDan
(Attention MMATorch app users: Make sure to upgrade to the latest edition of the MMATorch app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device!)
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
