UFC Fight Night: Taira vs Park takes place this Saturday live from Las Vegas.  The card kicks off with the Prelims at 6:00 PM EST on ESPN, followed by the Main Card at 9:00 on ESPN+.  The Main Event features Tatsuro Taira taking on Hyun-Son Park in a matchup of two up-and-coming prospects. Taira is one of the best young grapplers in the Flyweight Division, while Park looks to keep his undefeated record as he takes the fight on just one week’s notice.

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: Taira vs Park

Main Event

Fighter(s)

Price

Opponent

Risk

Odds

ITD

Tatsuro Taira vs HyunSung Park

9200/7000

-

Stackability: Low

-355/ 280

-105/475.

Park steps in as a late notice replacement in a very tough matchup. Taira has great ground skills and his wrestling and striking are coming along so this is going to be the toughest test for the 10-0 Park. Taira does end up in some bad situations in scrambles sometimes, and on the feet, this will be a close fight. I expect Taira to win by submission as the step up in competition and short notice fight for Park seems too much for him to overcome.


 

Expensive Fighters

Expensive

Fighter(s)

Price

Opponent

Risk

Odds

ITD

Rafael Estevam

9500

Felipe Bunes

Somewhat-Safe

-550 

150. 

He's going to wrestle and even in a decision we could see him eclipse 100pts. He feels like the safest play this week in the high range since he isn't reliant on the finish.
Kevin Vallejos

9400

Danny Silva

Somewhat-Safe

-425 

-105 

He throws a lot of volume and has the power to end the fight. Silva is very hittable so expect Vallejos to have his chances. I love Vallejos by KO bet at around even money.
Rinya Nakamura

9300

Nathan Fletcher

Somewhat-Safe

-425 

200. 

Nakamura is another wrestler in the high end this week but his opponent is a submission fighter so there is the risk that Nakamura keeps it standing which would result in a low volume striking battle. I expect him to get the fight to the ground though and he should be able to rack up control time and score well even if it goes to a decision.
Austin Bashi

9600

John Yannis

Moderate

-675 

 
Bashi is another wrestler priced highly this week, and facing the greenest opponent of the bunch. Yannis is making his UFC debut at 31 years old which is never a good sign. Yannis has never been KO'd but I expect Bashi to look to wrestle and hunt for the submission.
Mateusz Rebecki

9000

Chris Duncan

Moderate

-218 

120. 

Both of these guys have high variance fights. This is the first time in a while we have had a lot of high ceiling plays in the "Expensive" range but Rebecki at his best will land heavy shots while landing takedowns so a KO or wrestling heavy approach are both in play. Rebecki is way less likely than the others in this range to win the fight, but if he gets the finish, I expect him to score just as high.



 

Mid-Range Fighters

Mid-Range

Fighter(s)

Price

Opponent

Risk

Odds

ITD

Piera Rodriguez

8700

Ketlen Souza

Moderate

-225 

400. 

I'm going to be expanding the mid-range this week since we have so many fights priced $9000+ on a 12-fight card. Piera is the better wrestler, and while she isn't likely to finish the fight, I expect her to land a lot of volume and takedowns here. She is one of the safer Mid-Range options this week.
Karol Rosa

8600

Nora Cornolle

Moderate

-205 

700. 

Rosa throws more volume than almost anyone in the UFC, but she also gets hit a ton. She routinely goes over the 100 significant strike mark when she isn't worrying about takedowns and has been as high as 200+. She has a high ceiling for her volume and Cornolle normally doesn't wrestle, so she should be safe here to land a lot of strikes.
Nick Klein

7800

Andrey Pulyaev

Somewhat-Risky

130 

275. 

This is a tough fight, with both of these guys having the ability to find finishes. Klein seems more durable and while he was finished in his last fight it was against one of the best up and coming power punchers in the division. Klein should be able to hand around long enough to wear down Pulyaev and I think he'll eventually be able to control the fight and find a finish in R2/3.
Rodolfo Vieira

8900

Tresean Gore

Somewhat-Risky

-218 

100. 

His grappling upside is huge, but his wrestling is not good. If he gets Gore to the ground, I expect the fight to stay there until the round ends or he gets submitted, but it's tough to trust Rodolfo these days. At his price he needs one takedown and a first-round finish might not be enough for the optimal lineup so I have him a little lower than normal, but he just hasn't been impressive lately so he is hard to trust. Submission or bust play.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

8800

Neil Magny

Somewhat-Risky

-198 

175. 

Elizeu is another fighter with big upside but low volume. Magny is struggling lately but any rising prospect is thrown to him so it is hard to tell how he will fair against another veteran. Zaleski's power is probably too much for Magny but Magny is known for slowing fights down so I don't think this fight leads to a high DK score.
Andrey Pulyaev

8400

Nick Klein

Somewhat-Risky

-155 

150. 

This fight is a tossup but I think whoever wins it gets the finish. I'll be leaning towards Klein but I will not be surprised at all if Pulyaev takes him down and scores 100+ with an early Round 1 finish.
Nora Cornolle

7600

Karol Rosa

Risky

170 

650. 

She should get plenty of chances to land, and if she is landing the bigger shots maybe two judges award her the decision. She won't be able to keep up on volume but if she mixes in one or two takedowns, she has a chance to steal this fight.\



 

Paydown Fighters

Pay-Downs 

Fighter(s)

Price

Opponent

Risk

Odds

ITD

Chris Duncan

7200

Mateusz Rebecki

Somewhat-Risky

180 

330. 

Duncan is a high variance fighter and at $7200 he has decent odds to end the fight inside the distance. He can wrestle a little bit but his success is probably going to come on the feet here. 
Elves Brener

7100

Esteban Ribovics

Somewhat-Risky

205 

500. 

Brener is a junk yard dog and he has the wrestling advantage in this matchup. If he is smart and uses his wrestling, he should be able to keep the fight close. I don't think he gets a finish but even if he just gets to the judges’ scorecards he could score enough at his price.
Neil Magny

7400

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

Risky

164 

700. 

Magny might only score 65 in a win so you have to hope other underdogs don't win. He has a way of keeping rounds close and landing a late takedown or some cage control to sway the judges. This is a step back in competition for him so he could get back on track here, but I'm not expecting a highlight reel finish.
Tresean Gore

7300

Rodolfo Vieira

Risky

180 

300. 

Gore looks like he throws with a lot of power but he only has one career KO. He isn't going to submit a fresh Vieira but we have seen that the later the fight goes the more open Vieira becomes to submissions. I don't think Gore gets it done but if he does it probably comes with a finish so his upside is there.
Ketlen Souza

7500

Piera Rodriguez

Risky

185 

700. 

She doesn't throw as much volume as Rodriguez, I don't think her cardio is as good, and she has less power. Souza has been taken down by anyone who has tried so I expect Rodriguez to wrestle heavy here which wouldn't be good for Souza. If this is a striking battle, she is live for the upset.
Nathan Fletcher

6900

Rinya Nakamura

Risky

330 

800. 

Rinya is a better wrestler, but if Fletcher can threaten submissions and get favorable positions, we haven't really seen Rinya deal with too much adversity. A hail mary submission is in Fletcher's game too so you can't count him out even if he is down heading into Round 3.
Felipe Bunes

6700

Rafael Estevam

Risky

410 

750. 

Bunes was dominating Joshua Van in Round 1, so I don't understand why the line is so wide here. Bunes is going to start hot, and he might fade, but his skill sets don't line up with someone who is +400 against anyone in the flyweight division.
John Yannis

6600

Austin Bashi

Risky

490 

 
He's never had a professional fight end in the first round so you know his cardio is going to be pretty good. Bashi will shoot a ton of takedowns and if his game plan is just to fire big shots until he gets taken down, he always has a punchers chance.



 

Sample Lineup

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Live Dogs

Klein, Gore, Brenner, Magny

Picks and Stats

   

Tatsuro Taira

vs

HyunSung Park

$9,200

DFS Salary

$7,000

Record: 16-1-0

Record

Record: 10-0-0

5

Knockouts

4

7

Subs

5

-355

Vegas Odds

280

   

Mateusz Rebecki

vs

Chris Duncan

$9,000

DFS Salary

$7,200

Record: 20-2-0

Record

Record: 13-2-0

9

Knockouts

7

7

Subs

3

-218

Vegas Odds

180

   

Elves Brener

vs

Esteban Ribovics

$7,100

DFS Salary

$9,100

Record: 16-5-0

Record

Record: 14-2-0

3

Knockouts

7

11

Subs

5

205

Vegas Odds

-250

   

Karol Rosa

vs

Nora Cornolle

$8,600

DFS Salary

$7,600

Record: 18-7-0

Record

Record: 9-2-0

4

Knockouts

6

2

Subs

2

-205

Vegas Odds

170

   

Neil Magny

vs

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

$7,400

DFS Salary

$8,800

Record: 29-14-0

Record

Record: 25-9-1

8

Knockouts

15

4

Subs

3

164

Vegas Odds

-198

 

0

 

Danny Silva

vs

Kevin Vallejos

$6,800

DFS Salary

$9,400

Record: 10-1-0

Record

Record: 15-1-0

5

Knockouts

11

0

Subs

2

330

Vegas Odds

-425

   

Rinya Nakamura

vs

Nathan Fletcher

$9,300

DFS Salary

$6,900

Record: 9-1-0

Record

Record: 9-2-0

5

Knockouts

1

1

Subs

7

-425

Vegas Odds

330

   

Rodolfo Vieira

vs

Tresean Gore

$8,900

DFS Salary

$7,300

Record: 10-3-0

Record

Record: 6-3-0

1

Knockouts

1

9

Subs

3

-218

Vegas Odds

180

   

Nick Klein

vs

Andrey Pulyaev

$7,800

DFS Salary

$8,400

Record: 6-2-0

Record

Record: 9-3-0

2

Knockouts

5

3

Subs

2

130

Vegas Odds

-155

   

Austin Bashi

vs

John Yannis

$9,600

DFS Salary

$6,600

Record: 13-1-0

Record

Record: 9-3-0

3

Knockouts

5

5

Subs

0

-675

Vegas Odds

490

   

Rafael Estevam

vs

Felipe Bunes

$9,500

DFS Salary

$6,700

Record: 13-0-0

Record

Record: 14-7-0

4

Knockouts

2

3

Subs

9

-550

Vegas Odds

410

   

Piera Rodriguez

vs

Ketlen Souza

$8,700

DFS Salary

$7,500

Record: 10-2-0

Record

Record: 15-5-0

5

Knockouts

8

0

Subs

2

-225

Vegas Odds

185

   

 

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