This article is part of our UFC Picks series.
Two title fights are set to headline UFC 231 on Saturday in Toronto. In the main event, Max Holloway makes a long-anticipated return to fight top featherweight contender and comeback artist Brian Ortega. The co-main event won't disappoint either, as a true UFC Women's Flyweight Champion will finally be crowned.As a reminder, these are purely picks. If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's UFC 231 preview.
MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | JON | EVAN | JAKE |
Max Holloway (-125) vs. Brian Ortega (+100) | Featherweight Championship | Holloway | Holloway | Holloway |
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (+275) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (-350) | Women's Flyweight Championship | Shevchenko | Shevchenko | Shevchenko |
Alex Oliveira (+110) vs. Gunnar Nelson (-130) | Welterweight | Nelson | Nelson | |
Thiago Santos (-210) vs. Jimi Manuwa (+175) | Light Heavyweight | Santos | Santos | Santos |
Hakeem Dawodu (-170) vs. Kyle Bochniak (+140) | Featherweight | Dawodu | Dawodu | Dawodu |
RECORD | 4-1 | 5-0 | 5-0 | |
OVERALL (since UFC 200) | 93-59 | 85-67 | 95-57 | |
PERCENTAGE | .612 | .559 | .625 |
MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | RICHARD | CHRIS |
Max Holloway (-125) vs. Brian Ortega (+100) | Featherweight Championship | Holloway | Holloway |
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (+275) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (-350) | Women's Flyweight Championship | Shevchenko | |
Alex Oliveira (+110) vs. Gunnar Nelson (-130) | Welterweight | Nelson | |
Thiago Santos (-210) vs. Jimi Manuwa (+175) | Light Heavyweight | Santos | |
Hakeem Dawodu (-170) vs. Kyle Bochniak (+140) | Featherweight | Dawodu | Dawodu |
RECORD | 5-0 | 2-3 | |
OVERALL (since UFC 200) | 73-50 | 48-44 | |
PERCENTAGE | .593 | .522 |
MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | Joe "SunTszu" | Shaun "DFSSniper" |
Max Holloway (-125) vs. Brian Ortega (+100) | Featherweight Championship | Holloway | Holloway |
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (+275) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (-350) | Women's Flyweight Championship | Shevchenko | |
Alex Oliveira (+110) vs. Gunnar Nelson (-130) | Welterweight | Nelson | |
Thiago Santos (-210) vs. Jimi Manuwa (+175) | Light Heavyweight | Santos | Santos |
Hakeem Dawodu (-170) vs. Kyle Bochniak (+140) | Featherweight | Dawodu | |
RECORD | 3-2 | 4-1 | |
OVERALL (since UFC 200) | 25-16 | 25-16 | |
PERCENTAGE | .610 | .610 |
THE PLAYERS
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.
Evan Dahl: Pens our bi-weekly MMA Barometer column and chips in on fight recaps. Follow him on Twitter at @RealEvanDahl.
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 @JakeSki52.
Richard Mann: Richard is a stats-based analyst that has appeared on ESPN MMA via Fightmetric. He is the primary Bellator recap writer and handles event recaps in our Fight Stat Wrap column. Follow him on Twitter at @RichardAMann.
Chris Olson: Contributor at RotoWire to "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," as well as DFS Baseball, and MMA 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 7th 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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