DraftKings Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) daily fantasy sports is only growing and now we are seeing even more tournament options and higher prize pools as the fans interest continues to increase.  As a sport with near non-stop weekend action Mixed Martial Arts is a new daily fantasy sports offering that is finding its way into homes across the world and sows no signs of slowing down.  Last weekend we saw undefeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk upset Carla Esparza for the Strawweight UFC Title at the American Airlines Center, in Dallas Texas as well as Rafael dos Anjos upsetting Anthony “Showtime” Pettis for the UFC Lightweight Title giving us yet more exciting and riveting moments in MMA DFS.  Now that respected daily fantasy sports provider Draft Kings provides Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as a playing option the potential for profit and personal enjoyment is now more alive in ever in the already expanding sport.  If you do enjoy the UFC and MMA but have never entertained the idea of trying to play it in a fantasy sports setting now is a great time to give it a go as the sport is relatively new to the DFS industry as a whole and there is still plenty of opportunity to rise to the top of the learning curve.  Regardless of your Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) or daily fantasy sports experience Draft Kings still gives us the opportunity to play a game with friends and foes that only enhances the fight contests.  With tournament entries filling up fast and tournament buy ins of all levels waiting lets breakdown a potentially playable Draft Kings Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) daily fantasy sports lineup with some of the more intriguing fighters for this weekends up coming March 21st, 2015 MMA matches at the Maracanazinho Gymnasium, in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

Event: Saturday March 21, 2015

UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. LaFlare (Maracanazinho Gymnasium, in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil)

Draft Kings Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Daily Fantasy Sports Lineup Build

Fighter 1 – Gilbert “Durinho” Burns (9-0) (Lightweight)

The undefeated’s did very well for us last fight so we will start the foundation of our  Draft Kings Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) daily fantasy sports lineup with Gilbert “Durinho” Burns (9-0) over Alex Oliveira (8-7).  Not only is he perfect in the Octagon but it takes in front of his home country and fans giving him even more incentive and comfort in remaining perfect. Burns has also won 4 out of last fights in the first round showing he can put away opponents early giving us that nice early round DFS points payday all winning lineups usually feature.  At a -531 favorite at the sportsbook, the highest for this card, this should be a great spot to start with.

Fighter 2 – Leonardo “Macarrao” Mafra (11-2) (Lightweight)

For our second pick we go with -153 favorite Leonardo “Macarrao” Mafra (11-2) over Cain Carrizosa (6-1).  Both fighters are coming off a loss but Mafra has won 4 out of his last 5 fights by way of KO/TKO and is fighting in his country vs. the American Carrizosa so we will lean on the home favorite and hopefully get an early knockout win.  The fight round over and under is 1.5 as well so this is another nice spot to hopefully pick up some early round finishing points from a guy with heavy hands who loves to stand up and exchange.

Fighter 3 – Leonardo “Nova Uniao” Santos (13-3-1) (Lightweight)

This match features two almost dead even fighters according to the sportsbook odds so once again we will side with a home favorite and take Brazilian Leonardo “Nova Uniao” Santos (13-3-1) for the win versus American Tony Martin (9-2).  Not only is Santos a slight favorite but he has more wins in his last 5 fights then Martin as well as more experience and his country behind him.  Hopefully the Leonardo can continue for us and we see this fight end early and in our favor.

Fighter 4 – Josh “Kos” Koscheck (17-9) (Welterweight)

Here we go with strictly a value play in Josh “Kos” Koscheck (17-9) winning over Erick “Indio” Silva (17-5).  We can feel good about getting Josh at $7500 even after coming off a second round submission (North-South Choke) loss to Jake Ellenberger just last month.  We get an extremely experienced fighter in Koscheck and he has to be vry hungry for a victory after so many years of being out of the winners cirle (last win was Feb 4, 2012 against Mike Pierce).  Everyone knows Josh hits extremely hard and is always dangerous so hopefully he finds that knockout power again this weekend and we get some of that upset magic that has been flying around the UFC lately.

Fighter 5 – Ryan LaFlare (11-0) (Welterweight)

What kind of Draft Kings Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) daily fantasy sports fight  night would it be without having action on the headline main event?  Another pretty even match from two  fighters that often go to decision we will take undefeated Ryan LaFlare (11-0) as having the edge over Demian Maia (19-6).  This will be an interesting fight and if it does last awhile there could be lots of DFS points adding up by the the time the final bell is rung.

Yet another amazing fight card with a weekend full of action making it hard to resist jumping into a few DraftKings Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) daily fantasy sports.  Sometimes you need a breath of fresh air from the the daily grind of other daily fantasy sports and DraftKings Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) daily fantasy sports is great chance to break out of routine and relax and enjoy something new on the weekend.

Fighters from each contest will earn points as follows:

Moves Scoring

Significant Strikes (SS): +0.5 PTS

Advance (ADVC): +1 PT

Takedown (TD): +2 PTS

Reversal/Sweep (REV): +2 PTS

Knockdown (KD): +3 PTS

Fight Conclusion Bonuses

1st Round Win (1rW+): +100 PTS

2nd Round Win (2rW+): +70 PTS

3rd Round Win (3rW+): +50 PTS

4th Round Win (4rW+): +40 PTS

5th Round Win (5rW+): +40 PTS

Decision Win (WBD+) : +25 PTS

Scoring Notes:

Significant Strikes are any Distance Strike or Clinch/Ground Strikes that are considered “Power Strikes” by official scorers.

Advances include:

To Half Guard

To Side Control

To Mount

To Back Control