Mixed martial arts, especially through the UFC, have become an extremely popular sport to watch. It only makes sense that fantasy leagues are popping up, and this include daily fantasy leagues, too. If you are an MMA fan, and you love fantasy sports, daily fantasy MMA is worth checking out. It’s a lot of fun, and it makes fight nights much more enjoyable.

How to Play

Unlike other daily fantasy sports, MMA is broken down match by match. The average price per fighter is $10,000 at DraftKings, and you need to select 5 different fighters. With a salary cap of $50,000, you can select 5 average fighters. The problem with this is that the favorite is always more than $10,000, and the underdog is always less. If you pick the five biggest favorites, you will go up over your cap, and this forces you to pick the underdogs that are most likely to perform well. It is a tough balancing act, but when done correctly, you can end up winning some money. Having a good strategy to go behind the selection process will help you to make a better roster and increase your chances of finishing in the money.

Top 5 Fantasy MMA Tips

1.) Look at each fight before choosing your fighters You will see that each fight is broken down with a favorite and an underdog. The favorite will be more expensive, and the underdog will be cheap. Favorites are a favorite for a reason, but that doesn’t mean that they will win. If you can find the dogs that have the best chance of an upset, then you will find the fighters that are cheap, yet have a good chance of scoring a lot of points. By looking at each fight before you start choosing, you have a better chance of finding these fights and capitalizing on them.
2.) Know what to expect per fighter Some fighters are better at producing points than others. You get points for early round wins, but there are points for other things to, like takedowns. A fighter that is technically sound will score more points over the long run than a brute that wins by decision. Wins are great, but you want a fighter that will score a lot of points per win. By observing fights, taking notes, and then applying them to your roster, you stand a better chance of knowing who will score the most points.
3.) Take a risk on new fighters Once in a while, you will see that fighters new to the UFC are up for your roster. That’s a score for you, because these new fighters are often cheap, but that doesn’t meant that they don’t have experience. A lot of fighters come over from different leagues, like Strikeforce, and have experience. They might not have any fantasy points yet, but if you know their background and style, you can make some guesses. This often allows you to grab good talent for very cheap. When you do this, you can get a dog, but be confident that you are getting a player that others will pass by on, just because his info doesn’t show up in the preview box. They are still great fighters, just new to the league.
4.) Don’t feel forced to use all of your salary In other sports, leaving salary money on the table is a losing proposition. Your salary has the potential to buy you points, and unused salary is handing the championship over to someone else. Not in daily fantasy MMA. Here, because each value is determined in pairs, you can find great value in a lot of cheap fighters. You might find you draft two favorites and three dogs, and have $800 left in salary. That’s okay. Your job isn’t to spend everything, it’s to score points. If you don’t need every dollar to accomplish this, don’t worry about it. Just focus on points, and use the money as a tool to get them.
5.) Be more than a fan Fans of MMA are fine, but this alone will not win you a fantasy title. T win, you need to be able to not draft your favorite fighter if they aren’t the right choice. You need to be a student of the game so that you can analyze fights, be able to predict outcomes with accuracy, and have the insight to know when great fighters will be up against even better fighters that just haven’t stepped up their game yet. These are not easy things to do, and the casual fan will never be able to. Be more than a fan; be a top fantasy manager.

Advanced Strategy

These tips are just a beginning. There is a lot to learn about this game, and although the way that it’s structured seems quite simple, little things will help you to get better. For one, you should be able to start determining the relationship between salary and point value. Getting 65 points from a fighter you spend $9,800 on is not the same as getting 95 points from a fighter that you spend $11,200 on. Both are great numbers, but even though the more expensive fighter costs more, he is also of a greater value because he is contributing a higher level of value to your roster. This might seem like difficult math to perform, but after watching tournament outcomes for a while, you will see that spending a little more to earn more points is often worth it. It can take some time to figure out exact numbers, but if fantasy sports were easy, there’d be no point in playing for money. It’s the amount of skill that you need that makes winning cash so worthwhile. Our goal is to help you get to that level a lot faster than if you were learning on your own. Put in the time and the effort, and you will soon be a profitable daily fantasy MMA player.
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