UFC Fight Night DFS Picks & Lineups: Imavov vs. Borralho Cheat Sheet, 9/6
UFC Fight Night: Imavov vs Borralho takes place this Saturday live from Paris, France. The card kicks off with the Early Prelims at 12:00 PM EST on ESPN+, followed by the Main Card at 3:00 PM on ESPN+ PPV. The Main Event will be a number one contender spot for the Middleweight Division as “Fighting Nerd” Caio Borralho takes on “The Sniper” Nassourdine Imavov in what will be an action-packed fight from start to finish.
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 Fight Night: Imavov vs Borralho
Main Event | |||||
Fighter(s) | Price | Opponent | Risk | Odds | ITD |
Nassourdine Imavov vs Caio Borralho | 7800/8400 | - | Stackability: Low | 110/ -130 | 300/380 |
| The winner gets the next shot at Chimaev so this fight has huge implications.; Caio is a great wrestler and I expect him to be able to control where this fight takes place, but my concern is that lately he has been focusing on his striking. If this becomes a striking battle Imavov is much better, despite the fact he doesn't throw much volume. I'm backing Caio and hoping his game plan involves him focusing on wrestling. | |||||
Expensive Fighters
Expensive | |||||
Fighter(s) | Price | Opponent | Risk | Odds | ITD |
| Oumar Sy | 9500 | Brendson Ribeiro | Somewhat-Safe | -490 | -150 |
| Ribeiro can't stop a takedown, so if Sy wrestles he should be able to dominate this fight. On the feet these two are evenly matched, but hopefully Sy focuses on the wrestling and gets the easy win. | |||||
| Modestas Bukauskas | 9300 | Paul Craig | Somewhat-Safe | -350 | -150 |
| Paul Craig has lost his durability so Bukauskas is live for the early KO. Craig is always dangerous on the ground so as long as Bukauskas avoids chasing Craig into a bad situation he should be able to coast in this fight. | |||||
| Mauricio Ruffy | 8800 | Benoit Saint Denis | Somewhat-Safe | -172 | 100 |
| Ruffy can strike really well but this is a tough task in someone who has seen the top of the division in BSD. BSD is tough to finish but at this price he is worth a shot because his ceiling is a highlight KO that scores 100+ pts. | |||||
| Sam Patterson | 8700 | Trey Waters | Moderate | -194 | 110 |
| Patterson is very much a glass cannon, if he wins this fight he is going to get the early takedown and dominate, if he loses he is going to probably get finished early. High upside, low floor but he makes for a good GPP play with his wrestling upside. | |||||
| William Gomis | 9000 | Robert Ruchala | Moderate | -270 | 250 |
| Gomis is quick, he should be able to keep range and land some good shots but he has a problem with being low volume. He is KO or bust for a good DK score, even if he uses his wrestling sometimes he won't throw enough volume to hit the optimal without the KO. | |||||
Mid-Range Fighters
Mid-Range | |||||
Fighter(s) | Price | Opponent | Risk | Odds | ITD |
| Mason Jones | 8600 | Bolaji Oki | Moderate | -132 | 300 |
| Jones can dominate this fight if he uses his wrestling, but he is also a pretty good striker. I have faith he is going to use his wrestling to win this fight so I'll be playing him this week. | |||||
| Andreas Gustafsson | 8300 | Rinat Fakhretdinov | Moderate | -134 | 320 |
| Andreas has a recklessness to him, and against someone with wrestling like Rinat that could end up working out if he times him. Rinat probably wins the minutes, Andreas is going to have to have the bigger moments to get the decision. | |||||
| Marcin Tybura | 8000 | Ante Delija | Somewhat-Risky | 108 | 250 |
| Tybura has enough wrestling to win this fight, and he has much more experience fighting high level fighters. Delija is more explosive so he might be able to outmuscle Tybura but I'm backing Tybura and his more well rounded game. | |||||
| Axel Sola | 8500 | Rhys McKee | Somewhat-Risky | -142 | 275 |
| McKee always has exciting fights which leads to good DraftKings scores. I don't fully trust Sola based on the limited tape that I have seen, but at his price he has as high of a ceiling as anyone else on this slate. | |||||
| Rinat Fakhretdinov | 7900 | Andreas Gustafsson | Somewhat-Risky | 114 | 330 |
| His wrestling upside makes for a good underdog play and he seems to get the judges on his side with his fighting style more often than not. If he avoids the big shot he could control this fight on the fence or the ground. | |||||
| Ante Delija | 8200 | Marcin Tybura | Somewhat-Risky | -126 | 150 |
| I wouldn't be surprised if he KO'd Tybura since Tybura is really getting up there in age, but this is a tough task for him. I'm picking Tybura but in this price range he has a high ceiling if he does win. | |||||
| Bolaji Oki | 7600 | Mason Jones | Risky | 108 | 300 |
| Oki is a good striker, but his wrestling isn't good at all. Jones has had plenty of fights where he won't wrestle and if that happens here this is a 50/50 fight. | |||||
Paydown Fighters
Pay-Downs | |||||
Fighter(s) | Price | Opponent | Risk | Odds | ITD |
| Kaue Fernandes | 6800 | Fares Ziam | Somewhat-Risky | -174 | 200 |
| He's a favorite for $6800 so he'll be the highest owned fighter on the card. He is taking on a late replacement and with the limited tape I've seen he seems like the more athletic fighter and should be able to win this fight pretty easily. | |||||
| Benoit Saint Denis | 7400 | Mauricio Ruffy | Somewhat-Risky | 145 | 250 |
| St Denis is a problem in the first round and this is the toughest task that Ruffy has had to face. BSD seemed broken in his last couple of outings but if he can roll back the vintage version of himself he can win this fight on the ground and keep it competitive on the feet. | |||||
| Trey Waters | 7500 | Sam Patterson | Risky | 162 | 300 |
| Waters can win by finish if Patterson isn't careful. On the feet Waters is the better striker, but it all comes down to how long he can keep it standing. In a win he probably hits the optimal lineup. | |||||
| Robert Ruchala | 7200 | William Gomis | Risky | 220 | 800 |
| Gomis can be low volume, so if Ruchala can just outwork him then he can win this fight. He doesn't have a technical advantage anywhere but he seems more willing to throw than Gomis and sometimes that is all you need. | |||||
| Paul Craig | 6900 | Modestas Bukauskas | Risky | 265 | 450 |
| Craig is submission or bust as always. What it comes down to is if he can get the fight where he wants it which has always been his Achilles heel. He is live for all fifteen minutes so if he even gets a few chances on the ground he is live to win by submission. | |||||
| Brendson Ribeiro | 6700 | Oumar Sy | Risky | 380 | 500 |
| Ribeiro can strike with Sy but his wrestling isn't at Sy's level. With Kaue being only $100 more expensive Ribeiro is going to come in completely unowned so if you want to try to get a big jump on the field he could be in the optimal lineup if he wins and Kaue doesn't. | |||||
Sample Lineup
Live Dogs
Fernandes, Craig, Tybura, Saint Denis
Picks and Stats
Nassourdine Imavov | vs | Caio Borralho |
$7,800 | DFS Salary | $8,400 |
| Record: 16-4-0 (1 NC) | Record | Record: 17-1-0 (1 NC) |
7 | Knockouts | 5 |
4 | Subs | 4 |
110 | Vegas Odds | 130 |
Benoit Saint Denis | vs | Mauricio Ruffy |
$7,400 | DFS Salary | $8,800 |
| Record: 14-3-0 (1 NC) | Record | Record: 12-1-0 |
4 | Knockouts | 11 |
10 | Subs | 0 |
125 | Vegas Odds | -145 |
Modestas Bukauskas | vs | Paul Craig |
$9,300 | DFS Salary | $6,900 |
| Record: 18-6-0 | Record | Record: 17-9-1 (1 NC) |
10 | Knockouts | 4 |
3 | Subs | 13 |
-350 | Vegas Odds | 265 |
Bolaji Oki | vs | Mason Jones |
$7,600 | DFS Salary | $8,600 |
| Record: 10-2-0 | Record | Record: 16-2-0 (1 NC) |
5 | Knockouts | 7 |
1 | Subs | 3 |
108 | Vegas Odds | -132 |
Axel Sola | vs | Rhys McKee |
$8,500 | DFS Salary | $7,700 |
| Record: 10-0-1 | Record | Record: 14-6-1 |
5 | Knockouts | 11 |
1 | Subs | 3 |
-142 | Vegas Odds | 116 |
Oumar Sy | vs | Brendson Ribeiro |
$9,500 | DFS Salary | $6,700 |
| Record: 11-1-0 | Record | Record: 17-8-0 (1 NC) |
4 | Knockouts | 9 |
4 | Subs | 7 |
-490 | Vegas Odds | 380 |
Marcin Tybura | vs | Ante Delija |
$8,000 | DFS Salary | $8,200 |
| Record: 27-9-0 | Record | Record: 25-6-0 |
10 | Knockouts | 12 |
7 | Subs | 6 |
108 | Vegas Odds | -126 |
Harry Hardwick | vs | Kaue Fernandes |
$7,500 | DFS Salary | 6800 |
| Record: 13-3-1 | Record | Record: 10-2-0 |
5 | Knockouts | 3 |
2 | Subs | 4 |
146 | Vegas Odds | -174 |
Sam Patterson | vs | Trey Waters |
$8,700 | DFS Salary | $7,500 |
| Record: 13-2-1 | Record | Record: 9-1-0 |
5 | Knockouts | 3 |
7 | Subs | 3 |
-194 | Vegas Odds | 162 |
Brad Tavares | vs | Robert Bryczek |
$9,100 | DFS Salary | $7,100 |
| Record: 21-11-0 | Record | Record: 17-6-0 |
5 | Knockouts | 11 |
2 | Subs | 1 |
-210 | Vegas Odds | 176 |
Andreas Gustafsson | vs | Rinat Fakhretdinov |
$8,300 | DFS Salary | $7,900 |
| Record: 12-2-0 | Record | Record: 23-1-1 |
8 | Knockouts | 11 |
2 | Subs | 6 |
-134 | Vegas Odds | 114 |
Shauna Bannon | vs | Sam Hughes |
$7,000 | DFS Salary | $9,200 |
| Record: 7-1-0 | Record | Record: 10-6-0 |
2 | Knockouts | 3 |
1 | Subs | 2 |
270 | Vegas Odds | -335 |