DraftKings NFT Reignmakers UFC: Fantasy Picks for UFC 282

by James · December 8, 2022

UFC 282 takes place from Las Vegas on Saturday night, and the event has already undergone major changes. Jiri Prochazka was originally scheduled to defend the UFC light heavyweight title in a rematch against Glover Teixeira, but Prochazka suffered a significant shoulder injury in training, forcing him to vacate the title. Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev was promoted to the UFC 282 main event and the two will compete for the vacant light heavyweight title. Robbie Lawler’s fight against Santiago Ponzinibbio was also canceled due to an injury to Lawler, and Ponzinibbio will face late replacement Alex Morono instead.

DraftKings is the host Reignmakers UFC competitions for this great event. To play Reignmaker’s UFC, open packs or scout, collect and bid on officially licensed UFC cards DraftKings Marketplace to build your Reignmakers UFC collection. Once you’ve assembled your team, build lineups to battle other players for prizes in fantasy sports competitions. Learn more at our Frequently Asked Questions about Reignmakers UFC page!

Saturday’s featured UFC Reignmakers bouts are RMUFC – CORE – UFC 282 $50K weigh-in and RMUFC – RARE – UFC 282 $50K weigh-ins. Contests begin at 5:30 PM ET on Saturday night.

Dana White's Contender Series - Salvador v Ross

Salvador has a plus fight against Daniel Da Silva, who has absorbed a ton of strikes. In three UFC fights, Da Silva has absorbed a whopping 10 significant punches per minute, which is incredibly high. Da Silva’s strike defense on a rate basis is also extremely poor, avoiding only 26% of his opponent’s significant strike attempts. Da Silva has been knocked down and finished by KO/TKO in two of his three UFC fights.

Salvador has only one UFC fight on Dana White’s Contender Series, but he ran a fast pace in that bout, landing over eight significant punches per minute and registering three heavy knockdowns. Salvador is well positioned to land a lot of strikes in this matchup and win the game with a high fantasy score.

Jan Blachowicz is a former UFC light heavyweight champion who enters the fight against Magomed Ankalaev as roughly a +230 underdog at DraftKings Sportsbook. Ankalaev is a skilled and dangerous fighter, but the crowd may underestimate Blachowicz in this fight.

Despite having a wrestling background growing up in Dagestan, Ankalaev does not use much aggressive offensive wrestling. Ankalaev is converting under one takedown per 15 minutes and has been successful on just 33% of his takedown attempts. By comparison, monstrous Dagestani wrestler and UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev averages about 3.5 takedowns per 15 minutes and has been successful on 65% of his attempts. Additionally, Ankalaev’s primary wrestling background is Greco, which uses upper body clinch work as opposed to level changes and leg attacks.

Instead, Ankalaev is more of a patient counter-attacker. If Ankalaev doesn’t use much offensive wrestling and this becomes primarily a striking match, Blachowicz will be extremely dangerous. Blachowicz has the length advantage, and has a three-inch reach advantage, which will help him on long strikes. Blachowicz also has a powerful right hand, which will come into play when Ankalaev is on the southpaw. The best method for an orthodox fighter to attack a southpaw is with the right hand, because a southpaw’s leading defensive shoulder is on the opposite side of the orthodox fighter’s right hand, giving more clearance to find the button on the right side.

Ankalaev has been injured in fights before on the feet, most notably against Thiago Santos, where Ankalaev was knocked down with standing punches and placed on his back. Ankalaev also had his legs bent in the match against Dalcha Lungiambula.

Blachowicz is a very viable underdog given his punch and range advantage and could pay off as a cheaper option in the Reignmakers UFC competitions. This is also the only five-round fight on the card, which could create 10 more minutes to generate fantasy scoring.

Gordon is the underdog against rising English fighter Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett. Pimblett is charismatic and is good at engaging people, which has resulted in him getting a lot of hype and attention.

Gordon represents a step up in the competition for Pimblett. Gordon is 4-1 in his last five fights and has strong striking metrics, landing nearly six significant strikes per minute while absorbing about three significant strikes per minute. Gordon has also fought elite competition of late, most notably against former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in 2019.

While Pimblett has the potential to develop into a star down the road, there are some aspects of Pimblett’s current game that could benefit from better competition. Pimblett’s defense is leaky both on a rate basis and visually. Pimblett only avoids 41% of his opponent’s significant strike attempts, which isn’t great. In comparison, Gordon has avoided 57% of his opponent’s significant strike attempts. Pimblett tends to keep his chin up and stationary, which can leave him vulnerable when he’s in range on long strikes.

Like Blachowicz, the crowd may be underestimating Gordon in this fight. Gordon has a path to victory through Pimblett’s shaky hitting defense, and his ownership may be low due to Pimblett’s hype and star power.

Daukaus and his opponent, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, have both lost to strong competition in the UFC. Daukaus is coming off two straight losses, but each loss was to top 10 heavyweights in Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes. Rozenstruik’s losses have also been to quality opponents, including elite heavyweights Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, along with top 10 heavyweights Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov.

Daukaus enters this matchup with much more appealing striking metrics. Daukaus lands over six significant punches per minute, which is a strong punch volume. Daukaus’ defensive stats are also good, avoiding 59% of his opponent’s significant strike attempts. On the flip side, Rozenstruik’s striking calculations are poor. Rozenstruik has absorbed more strikes than he has landed and has avoided just 45% of his opponent’s significant strike attempts.

Daukaus is a bit risky because he has been struck out several times, but Daukaus runs a faster pace than Rozenstruik and could position himself for a good fantasy score with striking volume and a possible finish. Rozenstruik has been knocked out twice in his last six fights, and 11 of Daukaus’ 12 career wins are by KO/TKO. Daukaus has scored over 100 DraftKings fantasy points (DKFP) in each of his four UFC wins.

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