RotoWire Staff Picks: UFC 249

RotoWire Staff Picks: UFC 249

This article is part of our UFC Picks series.

It's fight week. Man, does it feel great to say that. While the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into the proposed matchup between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, along with several other events, we'll be getting a stacked card Saturday to make up for it. Two titles will be on the line -- one of the interim variety -- while the UFC appears to be taking every precaution to put on a safe event, testing fighters daily.

As a reminder, the following selections are purely picks. If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's 249 Preview or tune into Fight IQ live Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST on the RotoWire Youtube Channel. With FanDuel launching a MMA game as well, we also have added a new DFS Preview courtesy of Chris Olson.
 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 

CLASS

JONJAKECHRIS
Tony Ferguson (-165) vs.
Justin Gaethje (+145)

Interim
Lightweight
Championship

Ferguson Ferguson Ferguson
Henry Cejudo (-240) vs.
Dominick Cruz (+200)

Bantamweight
Championship

CejudoCejudo Cejudo
Francis Ngannou (-275) vs.
Jair Rozenstruik (+235)

Heavyweight

NgannouNgannou Ngannou
Jeremy Stephens (+215) vs.
Calvin Kattar (-255)

Featherweight

KattarKattar Kattar
Greg Hardy (-175) vs.
Yorgan de Castro (+155)

Heavyweight

De CastroDe Castro De Castro
UFC 249 RECORD 3-23-23-2
2020 RECORD 14-512-78-11
2020 PERCENTAGE .737.632.421
2019 RECORD 39-1935-2332-26
2019 PERCENTAGE .672.603.552
ALL-TIME  148-86145-89 116-89
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .632.620.566

 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 
CLASS

JOE

"SUNTZU"

SHAUN 
"TheDFSniper"

Tony Ferguson (-165) vs.
Justin Gaethje (+145)

Interim
Lightweight
Championship

Gaethje Gaethje
Henry Cejudo (-240) vs.
Dominick Cruz (+200)

Bantamweight
Championship

CruzCruz
Francis Ngannou (-275) vs.
Jair Rozenstruik (+235)

Heavyweight

NgannouNgannou
Jeremy Stephens (+215) vs.
Calvin Kattar (-255)

Featherweight

KattarKattar
Greg Hardy (-175) vs.
Yorgan de Castro (+155)

Heavyweight

De CastroHardy
UFC 249 RECORD 3-24-1
2020 RECORD 13-614-5
2020 PERCENTAGE .684.737
2019 RECORD 34-2434-24
2019 PERCENTAGE .586.586
ALL-TIME 74-4978-45
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .602.634

THE TEAM

Jon Litterine: RotoWire lead MMA beat writer and scribe for our weekly DrafKings preview. Lead analyst on the RotoWire MMA Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JonLitterine.

Jake Letarski: RotoWire.com Operations Manager, plus MMA and NCAA Hoops Senior Editor. Host of the RotoWire MMA Podcast and guest on the RotoWire Fantasy Football Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @RotoJake.

Chris Olson: Contributor at RotoWire to "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," as well as DFS Baseball, our FanDuel MMA column, a MMA gambling columnist and fight recaps. Follow him on Twitter at @RealChrisOlson.

Joe "SunTszu": Known more commonly by his Twitter handle @SunTszu, Joe is a Hedge Fund Executive by day and high-volume DFS player by night. He is a 2x "Bracket Challenge" & "Gotham qualifier, who is currently ranked 4th in DFS MMA. You can also find him as one of the original contributors of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He is also a co-creator of the "Creating Alpha in DFS" podcast.

@theDFSniper: @theDFSniper is the host and lead instigator of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He also appears on the LoudMouth MMA podcast and contributes soccer content to DFS Army.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jake Letarski
RotoWire Editor for College Basketball and MMA. Frequent podcaster, plus radio and video guest. Follow Jake on Twitter at @RotoJake.
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