Daily Fantasy MMA Picks for UFC on FOX 19 – 4/16/16 DFSR is proud to bring you Shaun Ihasz. He'll be providing MMA picks, analysis, and breakdowns to help you cash on DraftKings. Give him a follow on Twitter @ShaunEyeHas Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for UFC Fight Night 86? Shaun is selling lineups for only $5 for DraftKings Cash Games & Tournaments. Just click the button below, this is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.   Click Here to Purchase MMA Lineups We're back after a 3-0 showing last week in Croatia as the UFC returs to the USA for a Fox primetime card headlined by Glover Teixeira and Rashad Evans. Typical as of late, this card has been shuffled up and down in every direction, including Lyoto Machida's bout being scratched after he admitted to taking a banned substance.  No more intro, let's get right to hopefully repeating last week's performance. I'll be checking the comment section right up until lineup lock to talk about all things UFC on Fox 19.   VEGAS FAVORITE ($10,500+) Khabib Nurmagomedov ($11,400) Vegas Line: -1100 Career Record: 22-0 UFC Record: 6-0 Record In Last 5: 5-0 Finishes: 7 KO / 7 Subs / 10 First-Round Losses by Stoppage: None Last Time Out: W, Unanimous Decision - Rafael dos Anjos He's back from injury and ready to continue his destruction of the lightweight decision. This is a match up that requires you to look through the research available in my cheat sheet and just know that Nurmagomedov is just at a different level of MMA than Darrell Horcher. As a -1100 favorite he will cost you a pretty penny at $11,400 on DraftKings but he should be a relatively safe play to score enough points to make up for the salary. If you play smart, you should be able to roster Nurmagomedov in both cash games and GPPs.   MID-RANGE TARGET ($9,500-$10,400) Glover Teixeira ($10,300) Vegas Line: -225 Career Record: 24-4 UFC Record: 6-0 Record In Last 5: 7-2 Finishes: 14 KO / 7 Subs / 16 First-Round Losses by Stoppage: 1 KO Last Time Out: W, 2nd Round TKO - Patrick Cummins Basic strategy says to key-in on the main event simply because a five round bout gives you more opportunity to score points. That's true, if Teixeira doesn't KO Rashad Evans first. Glover and Evans are the same age but "Suga" appears to be wearing down faster. Glover went the distance with both Jon Jones and Phil Davis before his most recent stretch of two straight stoppage victories. At $10,300 Teixeira presents good value to rack up points whether it's a five round decision or bonus points with an early KO.   UPSET ALERT (Under $9,500) Tecia Torres ($9,200) Vegas Line: +210...

Daily Fantasy MMA Picks for UFC Fight Night 85 – 3/19/15 DFSR is proud to bring you Shaun Ihasz. He'll be providing MMA picks, analysis, and breakdowns to help you cash on DraftKings. Give him a follow on Twitter @ShaunEyeHas   And make sure you check out our next set of MMA picks where we'll be offering cheatsheets and lineups for the full slate of fights. Playing other daily fantasy sports?  Access our projection system for NBA, NHL and MLB coming soon. Cut out a lot of the research element, click the button below! START YOUR FREE TRIAL!   UFC Fight Night 85 Two weeks without a UFC card, that was torture! But we’re back after a wild, upset-filled UFC 196 card and heading down under for UFC Fight Night 85 from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The lineup has been shuffled several times but one thing remains, I like A LOT of underdogs. That tends to happen with the overseas cards, picking favorites can be tricky, and those with stoppage potential gets even harder. Let’s dive in and try to sort out this mess. One more thing: I'll be checking the comments section all week, or get me on Twitter, to talk about all things UFC 196 heading into lineup lock.   Heavy Favorites ($10,500+) Alan Patrick Silva Alves ($10,800) With all the great value plays this week, you shouldn’t need to fade any of the heavy favorites. The problem is, where the hell do you go for safety on this card? I’m starting with the very first fight of the night with Alan Patrick Silva Alves, simply listed as Alan Patrick on DraftKings. Patrick is 12-1 with six career finishes and looking to bounce back from his first career loss. Patrick is relatively unimpressive but across from him will be Damien Brown, a guy making his UFC debut on short-notice. That’s a recipe for disaster if you ask me. Brown was in a three-round fight less than a month ago. It’s a great opportunity for the 31-year old Aussie but Patrick’s UFC experience should serve him well on the way to a victory.   Alan Jouban ($11,200) It’s an all-Alan write-up for the favorites. Jouban could be a chalky play because of the strong underdogs but he’s definitely worth mentioning. “Brahama” is 3-2 in his UFC career with two first-round knockouts to his credit. Jouban steps into the cage with Brendan O’Reilly, 1-1 in his UFC career and someone I don’t think can finish opponents at the highest level of MMA. The odds makers love Jouban and on this occasion I agree with them, he seems to have the advantage against O’Reilly anywhere the fight goes.   Mid-Tier Targets ($9,500 -...

Daily Fantasy DraftKings MMA Picks for UFC 196 – 3/5/16 The King & Queen of MMA are both in action at UFC 196 as Conor McGregor & Holly Holm headline what should be an entertaining PPV card from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Holm’s fight is tactically more interesting as her first title defense presents a stiff test in Miesha Tate. Meanwhile, the hype train continues to roll for the Irishmen as the biggest favorite on the card takes on short-notice replacement Nate Diaz. Enough of the intro, let’s pick some winners and throw in those snappy one-liners I’m sure you all love. One more thing: I'll be checking the comments section all week, or get me on Twitter, to talk about all things UFC 196 heading into lineup lock. <a href="http://partners.draftkings.com/aff_c?offer_id=622&aff_id=33414&file_id=3522" target="_blank"><img src="https://media.go2speed.org/brand/files/draftkings/622/728x90_MMAGuillotine_25K.png" width="728" height="90" border="0" /></a> Heavy Favorites ($10,500+) Conor McGregor ($11,000) This would have been a different story if McGregor’s scheduled opponent, Rafael Dos Anjos was able to defend his lightweight title in a champion vs. champion main event. But Dos Anjos broke his foot in training and had to pull out of the fight. *Side Note: seriously, these guys need to take it down a notch in training or find a way to be safer. Shuffled cards and injuries are a continuing epidemic in MMA that presents a serious threat to the sport.* Rant over, back to business. McGregor now gets short notice replacement Nate Diaz at welterweight – YES, WELTERWEIGHT. Diaz was nowhere near fight shape when he accepted the enormous payday you get when fighting McGregor. I expect the “Notorious” one to punch the donuts out of him Saturday night. McGregor is one of the best in the biz and now he’ll be fighting angry against an out-of-shape, borderline opponent. 15 fight win streak, 5 straight finishes, roster McGregor everywhere because if you don’t you will probably be starting out in a big hole. Vitor Miranda ($10,700) Miranda was one of my favorite fighters to watch on TUF Brazil 3 and it’s great to see him on a roll in the UFC after back-to-back stoppage victories against Jake Collier and Clint Hester. “Lex Luthor” always has Kryptonite handy when he enters the Octagon – that was awful, but I went there. It’s now or never for the 36-year old veteran who has racked up 10 KOs or submissions in 11 career wins. Across from him is Marcelo Guimaraes, who I’m not sold on as a UFC caliber athlete. Guimaraes is 2-1 in the octagon but both of his victories came via split decision while the Brazilian was knocked outby Hyun Gyu Lim. “Magrao” also has been on a 20-month hiatus...

Daily Fantasy MMA Picks for UFC Fight Night 84 – 2/27/16 Editor's Note: Welcome MMA contributor Shaun Ihasz. Give him a follow on Twitter @ShaunEyeHas We go across the pond to London, England for UFC Fight Night 84 and I can’t wait for this main event – Anderson Silva vs. Michael Bisping. We’re on a bit of a roll lately so let’s try and churn out some more winners. On a side note, the one thing we were wrong about last week was projecting a boring card. UFC Fight Night 83 was filled with brutal, highlight reel finishes and leaves UFC Fight Night 84 with a lot to live up to.   Vegas Favorites ($10,500+) Anderson Silva (10,800) Full disclosure – I’m not an Anderson Silva fan. But Fantasy MMA is about your head, not your heart. We know Spider’s last two losses in basically forever came against Chris Weidman.  One of those was the result of a gruesome broken leg, an image that has left serious mental scars on me. But Silva bounced back with a five-round dismantling of Nick Diaz, which was overturned to a No Contest after both guys failed drug tests. Silva is probably the greatest MMA fighter of all-time (as of now, calm down Jon Jones fans) and I expect his defense and striking accuracy to be too much for Bisping. Rustam Khabilov ($10,700) The stats are deceiving in this fight as Khabilov has lost two straight, but those came against competition much tougher than Norman Parke. Kkabilov is a versatile fighter who can pick up a KO or submission and it’s hard to imagine Parke sending him to a third straight loss.   Parke is 1-2 in his last three contests and seems to stumble every time he takes a step up in class. I’m staying with that trend and leaning on Khabilov. Mid-Range Targets ($9,500-$10,400) Makwan Amirkhani ($10,200) Two UFC fights with two first round finishes vaults “Mr. Finland” to the top of my play list this week. In his first UFC fight, Amirkhani delivered a flying knee that earned him a KO just eight seconds into the fight. Next time out it took him all of 1:41 to choke out Masio Fullen. Amirkhani takes on Mike Wilkinson, who scored a first round KO in his last outing against Niklas Backstrom, the recipient of a UFC pink slip in January of last year. But with that said, the red hot Finn is all over my lineups and offers a great chance for a stoppage bonus at his salary. Jarjis Danho ($9,800) The “Man Mountain” has to cut weight to make the 265 lbs limit at heavyweight. Read that again. I tend to stay away...

Daily Fantasy MMA Picks for UFC on Fox 18 - 1/30/2016 Editor's Note: Welcome MMA contributor Shaun Ihasz. Give him a follow on Twitter @ShaunEyeHas The card for UFC on FOX 18 at the Prudential Center is not filled with flashy names or a title bout (the main event is expected to produce a #1 contender), so we'll have to dig a little deeper. Usually Fantasy MMA is all about finding the underdogs who will put up points along with the one or two favorites you expect to take care of business.  But on this card, there is a surplus of value plays and a real struggle to find your dominant fighter. Playing other daily fantasy sports like NBA or NHL. Go ahead and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces all of our picks. Sign up now and get our lineup construction tool for FanDuel & DraftKings. Click here to sign up I know, I know this card has the incredibly talented and future face of the UFC in 19-year old Sage Northcutt. He was my top pick heading into the week until he got a new, more experienced, opponent on eight days notice AND stopped his weight cut as his bout will now be at welterweight rather than lightweight. Northcutt will probably win but an $11,000 price tag is just too high for someone I'm not all-in with. I won't consider using him, hopefully I don't regret that. Oh...and for those clamoring for an Anthony "Rumble" Johnson pick. I can't do it. Ryan Bader is too good and (trust me) too underrated. I expect Rumble to be heavily owned and for a lot of people to pay dearly with his $10,900 salary. Vegas Favorites ($10,500+) Randy Brown ($10,500)  There's a reason this kid is a big-time favorite in his UFC debut: six fights, six finishes, and no one has gotten to the third round with him. He matches up with Matt Dwyer, 1-2 in the UFC and aside from William Macario, has beat a bunch of guys who bag groceries in their spare time. This is the opening bout of the event and Brown is also a relative unknown...for now. No big wins on his resume either, but he has a reputation as an aggressive fighter and it's hard to argue with all those finishes. Brown is probably better suited for GPP play but I'll have him in a few cash game lineups as well. Tarec Saffiedine ($10,600)  I told you this card was light on favorites. Saffiedine is vanilla as vanilla gets. "The Sponge" has five wins in his last six fights, all by decision. This is a stronger play if you think the...