UFC 320: Ankalaev vs Pereira takes place this Saturday, live from Las Vegas, Nevada.  The card kicks off with the Early Prelims at 6:00 PM EST on ESPN+, followed by the Prelims at 8:00 PM EST on ESPN+, and finally the Main Card at 10:00 PM EST on ESPN+ PPV.  The Main Event is a rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira for the UFC Lightweight Title.  Magomed is great at winning rounds, while Alex has the one-punch power to end the fight early.  The Co-Main Event is the Bantamweight Title Fight between Merab Dvalishvili vs Cory Sandhagen in a clash of two styles as Merab looks to use his pace and wrestling against a striker in Cory Sandhagen.

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 320: Ankalaev vs Pereira

Main Event

Fighter(s)

Price

Opponent

Risk

Odds

ITD

Magomed Ankalaev vs Alex Pereira

8900/7300

-

Stackability: Low

-265/ 210

165./300.

A rematch for the lightweight crown headlines this card. I don't expect much to change from the first matchup, if Ankalaev plays it safe he can win this fight by landing a little more volume and controlling the fight. Pereira can KO anyone so one punch from him can change the whole fight. This isn't a must play fight like most five round main events, especially with another five round title fight on the card. I'm leaning Ankalaev to win again, but if Pereira wins it'll be a much more entertaining fight.


 

Expensive Fighters

Expensive

Fighter(s)

Price

Opponent

Risk

Odds

ITD

Merab Dvalishvili

9300

Cory Sandhagen

Somewhat-Safe

-440 

400. 

Merab is always a top play, he has the highest ceiling of any fighter which is made obvious by sportsbooks lining him at Over/Under 5.5 takedowns. If he wins the fight he'll have a ton of takedowns, striking, and control time. Unless Sandhagen lands something clean early I don't see Merab losing.
Ateba Gautier

9800

Tre'ston Vines

Somewhat-Safe

-1,650

#N/A

Gautier is the best KO artist on this card. He's strong, powerful and taking on Vines who steps in on only a few days’ notice. He's the most likely fighter to get the under 60 second bonus.
Austin Vanderford

9200

Ramiz Brahimaj

Somewhat-Safe

-320 

+110 

Vanderford should wrestle here, but I have much less conviction after the top two in this price range. He is a great wrestler and should be able to win this by controlling the fight, but we have seen him chin checked early in fights so he needs to watch himself.
Punahele Soriano

8800

Nikolay Veretennikov

Moderate

-320 

-105 

Soriano has been using his wrestling lately and that is a great way to stop Veretennikov. Nikolay has given up multiple takedowns to basically anyone who has tried to wrestle with him. Soriano also has a ton of power so if he decides to stand, he could still put up a big score.
Veronica Hardy

9600

Brogan Walker

Moderate

-700 

-175

This is a GPP only play. I don't know why this matchup was made, but it could be one for Hardy to shine. Brogan Walker has no takedown defense, is slow, and on a two-year stretch of not fighting. Hardy should be able to dominate the fight, and I don't see how the 36-year-old Walker wins it. It will be very hard for her to hit the optimal lineup but I expect her to be 5-7% owned and as a -700 favorite she makes for a great play if you are trying to get different in a tournament.




 

Mid-Range Fighters

Mid-Range

Fighter(s)

Price

Opponent

Risk

Odds

ITD

Joe Pyfer

8700

Abus Magomedov

Moderate

-245

-125 

The mid-range is tight this week with only 4 fights between $7500-8700. Pyfer looked like an elite two round fighter with the power to KO almost anyone early. Abus is a good striker in his own right who also slows down the later the fight goes. Pyfer should be able to land heavy shots early and hopefully one of them puts down Abus.
Daniel Santos

8300

JooSang Yoo

Moderate

-146 

275. 

Willy cat vs Zombie Jr, this should be a great fight. Yoo has the reach advantage, and looked great in his UFC debut but he doesn't have the experience that Santos has. Santos will mix in wrestling which helps him win rounds and he isn't a stranger to landing 25-30 significant strikes per round on top of his wrestling. I like him as a value play this week as the cheapest favorite on the card.
Jiri Prochazka

8500

Khalil Rountree Jr.

Somewhat-Risky

-205 

-115 

This fight could be horrible for DraftKings if no one gets KO'd as I don't expect the winner to land more than 80 significant strikes. Jiri is a wildcard and I wouldn't be surprised if he sprinted across the cage to set a pace early. Jiri has never been to decision in the UFC and I don't expect that to change here. He should be able to put up a big score in a second or third round KO.
Khalil Rountree Jr.

7700

Jiri Prochazka

Somewhat-Risky

158 

330. 

I'm taking the other side of this volatile fight here because someone likely scores well. Both of these men fought Hill and Jiri looked much better against him which is why he is the favorite, but Khalil can KO anyone when he lands and he'll have plenty of chances against Jiri. 
Macy Chiasson

8600

Yana Santos

Somewhat-Risky

-210 

200. 

Chiasson wrestles a little bit and has some striking but Yana is tough to control. I don't see anyone getting the finish here, but that doesn't mean they can't hit a ceiling if they land 3 takedowns and 10 minutes of control time.
JooSang Yoo

7900

Daniel Santos

Somewhat-Risky

114 

600

Zombie Jr is trained by the Korean Zombie so he is getting the best training you can get. Yoo looks fast and flashy but is actually the older fighter, but while he is the older fighter he is only 9-0 in his professional MMA career. This is a very close fight and both of these fighters are priced fairly so I expect to see them in a bunch of my lineups.
Abus Magomedov

7500

Joe Pyfer

Risky

196 

425. 

Pyfer has gassed out before, but I don't think he'll get finished. I won't be playing much Abus due to what seems like a low ceiling with his only way of winning being late KO or decision at a weight class that doesn't put up much volume.



 

Paydown Fighters

Pay-Downs 

Fighter(s)

Price

Opponent

Risk

Odds

ITD

Cory Sandhagen

6900

Merab Dvalishvili

Somewhat-Risky

310 

750. 

He has five rounds to work with, he's a great striker and has decent submissions. I don't see Merab losing but even in a loss I wouldn't be shocked to see him put up 40-60pts.
Josh Emmett

6800

Youssef Zalal

Somewhat-Risky

350 

700. 

This range is really tough this week with EVERYONE being at least +250. Emmett is a top ranked fighter and although he took some tough losses I see this being a winnable fight for him even at his huge price point. Emmett looks to have taken this training camp seriously, going to train with former champion TJ Dillashaw I think he should be able to land enough big shots to win the fight.
Andre Muniz

7100

Edmen Shahbazyan

Risky

230 

400. 

Edmen gasses out after the first round so if this fight goes deep Muniz can turn the fight around. I don't love playing the "wait for your opponent to tire" strategy but at $7100 it could be worth a shot for Muniz to get the late submission.
Nikolay Veretennikov

7400

Punahele Soriano

Risky

235 

+350 

Veretennikov has shown massive holes in his game but he is a good striker. If this stays standing it should be closer to 50/50, but I don't think Nikolay will keep it standing.
Jakub Wiklacz

7200

Patchy Mix

Risky

240 

750. 

Mix did not look good in his UFC debut so it could be that he came into the UFC overhyped. This is a massive step up in competition for Jakub though so although he comes in on a 7-fight undefeated streak he'll need to be careful in every transition in this fight. He should try to keep it standing since he seems a little quicker on the feet.
Ramiz Brahimaj

7000

Austin Vanderford

Risky

235 

+550 

Ramiz is a strong R1 fighter and Vanderford has struggled in the past with power punchers early. Ramiz is more of a submission specialist though so hopefully he won't fall in love with trying to hunt submissions off his back.
Chris Gutierrez

6700

Farid Basharat

Risky

320 

+275 

Gutierrez is a good striker with strong leg kicks, if he can keep the volume up with the leg kicks it could pay off later in the fight. He'll have to watch for the wrestling of Farid which could be tricky.
Brogan Walker

6600

Veronica Hardy

Risky

440 

+1,600 

She's off of a two-year layoff at 36 years old. I don't expect her to be competitive here, but we have very little insight on what she has been working on these last two years so maybe she shocks everyone with a submission since she is a BJJ Blackbelt.


 

Sample Lineup

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Live Dogs

Emmett, Pereira, Sandhagen, Yoo, Rountree

Picks and Stats

   

Magomed Ankalaev

vs

Alex Pereira

$8,900

DFS Salary

$7,300

Record: 21-1-1 (1 NC) 

Record

Record: 12-3-0 

11

Knockouts

10

0

Subs

0

-265 

Vegas Odds

+210 

   

Merab Dvalishvili

vs

Cory Sandhagen

$9,300

DFS Salary

$6,900

Record: 20-4-0 

Record

Record: 18-5-0 

3

Knockouts

8

2

Subs

3

-440 

Vegas Odds

+345 

   

Jiri Prochazka

vs

Khalil Rountree Jr.

$8,500

DFS Salary

$7,700

Record: 31-5-1 

Record

Record: 15-6-0 (1 NC) 

27

Knockouts

9

3

Subs

0

-205 

Vegas Odds

158 

   

Josh Emmett

vs

Youssef Zalal

$6,800

DFS Salary

$9,400

Record: 19-5-0 

Record

Record: 17-5-1 

7

Knockouts

4

2

Subs

9

350 

Vegas Odds

-520 

   

Abus Magomedov

vs

Joe Pyfer

$7,500

DFS Salary

$8,700

Record: 28-6-1 

Record

Record: 14-3-0 

14

Knockouts

9

7

Subs

3

196 

Vegas Odds

-245

 

0

 

Ateba Gautier

vs

Tre'ston Vines

$9,800

DFS Salary

$6,400

Record: 8-1-0 

Record

Record: 10-3-0 

7

Knockouts

6

0

Subs

1

-1,100

Vegas Odds

+650 

   

Edmen Shahbazyan

vs

Andre Muniz

$9,100

DFS Salary

$7,100

Record: 15-5-0 

Record

Record: 24-7-0 

12

Knockouts

4

1

Subs

15

-310 

Vegas Odds

230 

   

Chris Gutierrez

vs

Farid Basharat

$6,700

DFS Salary

$9,500

Record: 22-6-2 

Record

Record: 13-0-0 

9

Knockouts

1

1

Subs

6

320 

Vegas Odds

-460 

   

Daniel Santos

vs

JooSang Yoo

$8,300

DFS Salary

$7,900

Record: 13-2-0 

Record

Record: 9-0-0 

5

Knockouts

4

2

Subs

1

-146 

Vegas Odds

114 

   

Macy Chiasson

vs

Yana Santos

$8,600

DFS Salary

$7,600

Record: 11-4-0 

Record

Record: 16-8-0 (1 NC) 

3

Knockouts

7

3

Subs

1

-210 

Vegas Odds

162 

   

Patchy Mix

vs

Jakub Wiklacz

$8,900

DFS Salary

$7,200

Record: 20-2-0 

Record

Record: 16-3-2 

2

Knockouts

0

13

Subs

10

-310

Vegas Odds

240 

   

Punahele Soriano

vs

Nikolay Veretennikov

$8,800

DFS Salary

$7,400

Record: 11-4-0 

Record

Record: 13-6-0 

7

Knockouts

9

2

Subs

1

-320 

Vegas Odds

235 

   

Ramiz Brahimaj

vs

Austin Vanderford

$7,000

DFS Salary

$9,200

Record: 12-5-0 

Record

Record: 13-2-0 

1

Knockouts

5

11

Subs

3

235 

Vegas Odds

-320 

   

Veronica Hardy

vs

Brogan Walker

$9,600

DFS Salary

$6,600

Record: 9-5-1

Record

Record: 8-4-0

1

Knockouts

0

2

Subs

1

-700

Vegas Odds

440