Noche UFC DFS Picks & Lineups: Lopes vs. Silva Cheat Sheet, 9/13

Published: Sep 13, 2025

Updated: Sep 13, 2025

UFC Noche: Lopes vs Silva takes place this Saturday live from San Antonio, Texas. The card kicks off with the Early Prelims at 3:00 PM EST on ESPN+, followed by the Main Card at 6:00 PM on ESPN+ PPV. The Main Event features Diego Lopes and Jean Silva, who both are always looking to clash in the pocket. Both of these men are trying to get into the title picture, and with a statement win here, they could easily be the next contenders for the belt.

Check out all the latest UFC on ESPN odds, stats, predictions, and matchup breakdowns for the entire fight card below, and always feel free to reach out to me in Discord or on Twitter at @MikeIannoneDFS. Now let's look at some UFC DFS top picks and plays for Saturday's event. Good luck with your MMA daily fantasy lineups!

MMA DFS Playbook for UFC Noche: Lopes vs Silva

Main Event
Fighter(s)	Price	Opponent	Risk	Odds	ITD
Diego Lopes vs Jean Silva	7000/9200	-	Stackability: Low	195/ -235	380./-115
A great matchup that could give the winner a title shot against Volk for the 145lb belt. Lopes is durable, has great Jiu Jitsu, and has power in his hands. Silva is a cleaner striker, has better timing, and just as much power but can be outworked. This should be a very close fight, and I don’t have a strong lean, but for that reason I am going to go with the more well-rounded fighter who we have seen go five rounds before in Lopes.

Expensive Fighters

Expensive
Fighter(s)	Price	Opponent	Risk	Odds	ITD
Tatiana Suarez	9400	Amanda Lemos	Somewhat-Safe	-460	-110
Suarez has great wrestling and exceptional submission skills, which is where you can really dominate Lemos. If this stays standing Suarez is in trouble, but Suarez should be able to get this down whenever she wants so she is my safest play this week.
Dusko Todorovic	9300	Jose Daniel Medina	Somewhat-Safe	-350	150.
Dusko is the opposite of safe. He has power, but he’s getting older and chinny so I can't trust him. This is a good play for large GPPs (1000+ entries) outside of that I am not going to be playing him this week since there are safer options although they might not have the same ceiling).
Alessandro Costa	9500	Alden Coria	Somewhat-Safe	-440	110.
Costa wins fights when he isn't fighting the top 15 of the division and this is a step back in competition for him. He can be low volume at times, but he has the power to KO almost anyone. He won't score well in a decision, but he has the upside to end this fight early.
Zachary Reese	8900	Sedriques Dumas	Moderate	-250	-175
This fight is similar to the Dusko fight where I can't trust either of these guys. Dumas has admitted he is broke, he was arrested again this year which I think puts him in the double digits so who knows how much he is training. Reese is all action until he gasses out, but that is what gives him the huge upside.
Daniil Donchenko	8800	Rodrigo Sezinando	Moderate	-215	100.
Donchenko was a finalist on TUF so he has some UFC push behind him. He has good striking, good power, and mixes it up well to the body and head. I like him to get the finish here but he is a very unproven prospect so I can't put him higher.

Mid-Range Fighters

Mid-Range
Fighter(s)	Price	Opponent	Risk	Odds	ITD
Alexander Hernandez	8400	Diego Ferreira	Moderate	-113	250.
Hernandez is great when he has physical advantages, and against an aging Diego Ferreira he should be able to have them. It is going to be tough early, but once you break Ferreira he can be finished.
Quang Le	7900	Santiago Luna	Moderate	108	300.
Going out on a limb here a little, but I think Le can wrestle and win this fight by making it ugly. Le needs to wrestle to have any chance here, but he is reliable and normally shoots early on so I expect him to do the same here.
Claudio Puelles	8200	Joaquim Silva	Somewhat-Risky	-113	250.
Puelles is a submission or bust type of fighter. His striking and wrestling are not good, but if he gets a hold of his opponent he normally ends the round in a good position. He doesn't score great on DK but at $8200 you are banking on him getting the early finish.
Rob Font	8500	David Martinez	Somewhat-Risky	-142	550.
Font has a ton of volume, but his durability is starting to go. He should be able to land 100+ significant strikes if this fight goes the distance. He doesn't have much upside but I think he wins the fight.
David Martinez	7700	Rob Font	Somewhat-Risky	112	450.
Martinez has power and quick striking, if he lands on Font he could drop him. This is a big step up in competition for him so it could be tough. Any underdog with a better ITD than the favorite always has to be in play.
Montse Rendon	7600	Alice Pereira	Somewhat-Risky	120	600.
The mid-range is tough this week with how few fighters are in it, but I think Gustafsson is going to be one of the dogs who gets some ownership. He is reckless in the cage constantly moving forward and his wrestling can score well on DraftKings. He needs to be defensively responsible if he wants to avoid getting KO'd which I don't know if he can do.
Alice Pereira	8600	Montse Rendon	Risky	-158	330.
She is the youngest woman in UFC history at only 19 years old and she gets a tough test. Rendon has never finished an opponent so I don't want to pick her so if I am picking anyone in this fight I'll take a shot on the quick striker that the UFC is trying to push.

Paydown Fighters

Pay-Downs
Fighter(s)	Price	Opponent	Risk	Odds	ITD
Rafa Garcia	7100	Jared Gordon	Somewhat-Risky	190	500.
Rafa is more powerful than Gordon, but Gordon can push a pace that can break fighters. Rafa has a high ceiling in a finish and at his price any win will help your lineup. I expect him to be able to outmuscle Gordon here.
Jesus Aguilar	7500	Luis Gurule	Somewhat-Risky	172	380.
I'm just not a big fan of Gurule. Gurule doesn't throw much volume, and is one dimensional. Gurule has a bad KO loss to Ode Osbourne, and was taken down ten times on the contender series so I'm not going to look to use him this week until he proves himself as an all around fighter..
Dustin Stoltzfus	7200	Kelvin Gastelum	Risky	210	800.
This fight is in question with Gastelum missing by 5lbs. I don't know what to think of Gastelum, he is a good boxer but he isn't someone you can trust. Stoltzfus is going to come out and fight hard, if he can push a pace he might be able to gas out Kelvin and get the win.
Sedriques Dumas	7300	Zachary Reese	Risky	190	300.
Dumas is low volume, but I don't think Reese let's him be comfortable. Someone here should score well, and while I don't love Dumas, this line is too wide. His kickboxing is OK and if Reese gasses out he could take over late.
Jose Daniel Medina	6900	Dusko Todorovic	Risky	255	550.
Medina can grind on someone but he lacks physicality. At his price, and Dusko looking worse every fight out, I'll be taking a chance on him being able to wear down Dusko. This is not a safe play at all but I keep feeling like Dusko's run in the UFC is over.
Amanda Lemos	6800	Tatiana Suarez	Risky	320	650.
Lemos is powerful striking but her takedown defense isn't good. On the feet she should be able to piece up Suarez, but she needs to keep it standing. If she gets taken down once, she is probably on the ground for extended amounts of time.
Rodrigo Sezinando	7400	Daniil Donchenko	Risky	164	330.
Sezinando wasn't able to get any finishes on TUF, but these matchups are always hit or miss with the levels of competition. He came into TUF with three straight finishes so he still does have some upside. I just think Daniil is better, but these are low level fighters, and a well-rounded fighter like Rodrigo is definitely live in this spot.
Alden Coria	6700	Alessandro Costa	Risky	310	550.
Coria is decent and probably one of the better debuting fighters on the card but Costa is a very tough first test in the UFC. In his next UFC fight I'll likely look to pick him but this looks like too much too soon.

Sample Lineup

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AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Live Dogs

Lopes, Garcia, Medina, Le

Picks and Stats


Diego Lopes	vs	Jean Silva
$7,000	DFS Salary	$9,200
Record: 26-7-0	Record	Record: 16-2-0
10	Knockouts	12
12	Subs	3
+195	Vegas Odds	-235

Rob Font	vs	David Martinez
$8,500	DFS Salary	$7,700
Record: 22-8-0	Record	Record: 12-1-0
9	Knockouts	10
4	Subs	0
-142	Vegas Odds	+125

Rafa Garcia	vs	Jared Gordon
$7,100	DFS Salary	$9,100
Record: 17-4-0	Record	Record: 21-7-0 (1 NC)
1	Knockouts	8
8	Subs	2
190	Vegas Odds	-250

Kelvin Gastelum	vs	Dustin Stoltzfus
$9,000	DFS Salary	$7,200
Record: 20-10-0 (1 NC)	Record	Record: 16-7-0
5	Knockouts	3
5	Subs	6
-280	Vegas Odds	-175

Alexander Hernandez	vs	Diego Ferreira
$8,400	DFS Salary	$7,800
Record: 17-8-0	Record	Record: 19-6-0
7	Knockouts	5
2	Subs	7
-113	Vegas Odds	-113
	0
Santiago Luna	vs	Quang Le
$8,300	DFS Salary	$7,900
Record: 6-0-0	Record	Record: 9-2-0
2	Knockouts	2
4	Subs	4
-138	Vegas Odds	108

Jose Daniel Medina	vs	Dusko Todorovic
$6,900	DFS Salary	$9,300
Record: 11-5-0	Record	Record: 12-6-0
8	Knockouts	8
2	Subs	3
255	Vegas Odds	-350

Claudio Puelles	vs	Joaquim Silva
$8,200	DFS Salary	$8,000
Record: 13-4-0	Record	Record: 13-6-0
2	Knockouts	7
7	Subs	3
-113	Vegas Odds	-113

Tatiana Suarez	vs	Amanda Lemos
$9,400	DFS Salary	$6,800
Record: 11-1-0	Record	Record: 15-4-1
2	Knockouts	8
5	Subs	3
-460	Vegas Odds	320

Jesus Aguilar	vs	Luis Gurule
$7,500	DFS Salary	$8,700
Record: 11-3-0	Record	Record: 10-1-0
1	Knockouts	5
7	Subs	1
172	Vegas Odds	-225

Zachary Reese	vs	Sedriques Dumas
$8,900	DFS Salary	$7,300
Record: 9-2-0	Record	Record: 10-3-0
5	Knockouts	4
2	Subs	2
-250	Vegas Odds	190

Alessandro Costa	vs	Alden Coria
$9,500	DFS Salary	$6,700
Record: 14-4-0	Record	Record: 10-3-0 (1 NC)
5	Knockouts	4
6	Subs	4
-440	Vegas Odds	310

Montse Rendon	vs	Alice Pereira
$7,600	DFS Salary	$8,600
Record: 6-1-0	Record	Record: 6-0-0
0	Knockouts	4
0	Subs	1
120	Vegas Odds	-158

Rodrigo Sezinando	vs	Daniil Donchenko
$7,400	DFS Salary	$8,800
Record: 9-1-0	Record	Record: 12-2-0
4	Knockouts	7
3	Subs	2
164	Vegas Odds	-215