This article is part of our UFC Picks series.
Fight Island is upon us. The UFC is heading to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, getting its first chance since the start of the pandemic to showcase much of its international talent. The card will be capped off with three title fights, with fan-favorite Jorge Masvidal set to challenge Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title in the main event.
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 251 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 | JON | JAKE | CHRIS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kamaru Usman (-280) vs. Jorge Masvidal (+240) | Welterweight | Usman | Usman | Usman |
| Alexander Volkanovski (-235) vs. Max Holloway (+195) | Featherweight | Volkanovski | Volkanovski | |
Jose Aldo (+180) vs. Petr Yan (-220) | Bantamweight | Yan | Yan | |
Rose Namajunas (-210) vs. Jessica Andrade (+175) | Women's | | ||
Amanda Ribas (-900) vs. Paige VanZant (+600) | Women's | Ribas | Ribas | Ribas |
| UFC 251 RECORD | 4-1 | 3-2 | 3-2 | |
| 2020 RECORD | 22-7 | 19-10 | 14-15 | |
| 2020 PERCENTAGE | .759 | .655 | .483 | |
| 2019 RECORD | 39-19 | 35-23 | 32-26 | |
| 2019 PERCENTAGE | .672 | .603 | .552 | |
| ALL-TIME | 156-88 | 152-92 | 122-92 | |
| ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE | .639 | .623 | .570 |
MATCHUP | WEIGHT | JOE "SUNTZU" | SHAUN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kamaru Usman (-280) vs. Jorge Masvidal (+240) | Welterweight | Usman | Usman |
| Alexander Volkanovski (-235) vs. Max Holloway (+195) | Featherweight | Volkanovski | Volkanovski |
Jose Aldo (+180) vs. Petr Yan (-220) | Bantamweight | Yan | Yan |
Rose Namajunas (-210) vs. Jessica Andrade (+175) | Women's | ||
Amanda Ribas (-900) vs. Paige VanZant (+600) | Women's | Ribas | Ribas |
| UFC 251 RECORD | 4-1 | 4-1 | |
| 2020 RECORD | 19-10 | 22-7 | |
| 2020 PERCENTAGE | .655 | .759 | |
| 2019 RECORD | 34-24 | 34-24 | |
| 2019 PERCENTAGE | .586 | .586 | |
| ALL-TIME | 80-53 | 86-47 | |
| ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE | .602 | .647 |
THE PICKERS
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 9th 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.
