Daily Fantasy MMA Picks for UFC 255

UFC 255 is finally here, and it looks like it will have been worth the wait.

It starts up top with the ever explosive Deiveson Figueiredo taking on Alex Perez, while we also have a massive bout on the women’s side with the legendary Valentina Shevchenko battling Jennifer Maia.

On top of these two elite matches, there are also big names like Tim Means, Mike Perry, Cynthia Calvillo, Katlyn Chookagian, and the guy who delivered one of the best KOs of the year (or ever?) in Joaquin Buckley.

Last week was mostly a hit for my MMA DFS picks. Rafael dos Anjos and Alex Morono were two good calls to get wins, while Khaos Williams was an elite value pick that earned a KO.

The Julian Marquez fight was called off, so I won’t count that one against myself, and Geraldo de Freitas wasn’t all bad in a Split decision.

My only truly bad play was Brendan Allen, who a lot of people loved against Sean Strickland.

Overall, it was still a good week, and UFC 255 promises to be even better. That’s if I can nail my MMA DFS picks for UFC 255: Figueiredo vs. Perez, that is.

There are two sides to this card. The DFS side, which I’ll tackle, and the betting side. You can absolutely apply my logic here to some wagers, but for a full breakdown of this massive event, hit up Adam Haynes’ detailed UFC 255 betting preview.

For my favorite daily fantasy MMA picks for UFC 255, read on.

Figueiredo has quickly become one of my favorite fighters. He’s just so highly skilled, so much in control, and so explosive.

1️⃣9️⃣ wins
1️⃣6️⃣ finishes

Deiveson Figueiredo lives up his name as the God of War!#UFC255 | Saturday | BT Sport 1 HD pic.twitter.com/YfUBnqtxcg

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) November 18, 2020

If you were unsure of how devastating he can be, he’s now swept a very good fighter in Joseph Benavidez in two matches, and he’s both KO’d and submitted him.

The versatility here is tough to match, so even though he faces a tough challenger in Alex Perez, I don’t see much reason to go against Figueiredo.

For DFS, he’s easily one of the top plays on this slate. He’s a likely winner when you look at his odds and the matchup, and with 16 of 19 wins coming via stoppage, he’s also a really good bet to land you a high score.

Perez isn’t immune to getting finished, with three losses coming via submission, including his most recent bout.

I will be extremely shocked if Figueiredo doesn’t get out of UFC 255 with a win, and almost as surprised if he doesn’t finish Perez.

Don’t just take my word for it, though. Take a look at a more detailed breakdown in this Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Alex Perez UFC 255 pick.

It wasn’t too long ago that I fell in love with the floor game of Brandon Royval, and had him in one of my MMA DFS picks posts.

Here he is again, offering us elite value, and perhaps also staging the upset against Brandon Moreno.

Royval is just such a gifted submission artist, and he can usually hang with strikers long enough to pick his spot. He probably won’t have to worry so much about that here, as Brandon Moreno (10 career submissions) may have his own ideas about dropping this thing to the canvas.

Moreno is the more accomplished fighter to this point, but it’s very arguable Royval is more talented. He’s coming in hot with four straight submission wins, and one coming against Tim Elliott.

I like Royval as a betting dog, and he’s the perfect sleeper play to help you pay up for some stud fighters. Put some respect on his name.

Put some respect on @brandonroyval's name ? #UFC253 pic.twitter.com/RqAl1GYAjx

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 27, 2020

I am a big fan of Shevchenko, who is among the most skilled fighters in MMA. She may already be one of the best female mixed martial artists in the sport’s storied history, and she’s still technically in her prime at 32.

In fact, had Shevchenko found a way to figure out Amanda Nunes, she’d easily be the top fighter in the game right now.

I think she still may very well be, seeing as she still gutted out two Decision defeats in that impossible spot. Her only KO loss of her career is now a decade old, too, so we’re looking at an extremely battled-tested fighter with an elite and versatile skill-set.

Shevchenko can finish fights with her fists or with her floor game, and she also can take damage all the way into a Decision. Jennifer Maia is a worthy foe, but she’s not quite as dangerous as Shevchenko, and I’m not that scared of her ability to finish, as she’s done it just once since 2015.

Is she going to knock Shevchenko out? No. Is she going to submit her? I doubt it. Could she last to the end and earn a Decision win? I won’t rule that out.

But we’re looking for finishes and wins here. Shevchenko doesn’t come cheap, but she feels like one of the safest picks to get a win, and she offers as much upside as anyone.

You know who my top MMA DFS picks are for this event. I’ll wrap things up with Daniel Rodriguez, Jordan Wright, and Dustin Stolzfus.

Rodriguez is pricey, but he has terrific finishing ability. He’s ended fights early in three of his last four bouts, and hasn’t tasted defeat since 2017. I love his upside, and I’m not afraid to pay for it.

We’re getting value and taking on risk with Wright and Stoltzfus, but they both offer serious upside. Wright has yet to lose in his career, and he’s an expert finisher (11 finishes in 11 wins).

He’s taking on the rising Joaquin Buckley, who has KO power, but is arguably quite overrated after a quick knockout recently.

Buckley’s KO is the fourth knockout in UFC history stemming from a spinning back kick to the head, per @ESPNStatsInfo. He joins Renan Barao, Uriah Hall, and Magomed Mustafaev. pic.twitter.com/8nzxfCMLEm

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 10, 2020

Stoltzfus wraps things up as another value pick that is risky, but he saves cash and is in a winnable spot against Kyle Daukas. Daukas is very dangerous on the ground (8 of 9 wins via submission), but he didn’t get it done in his UFC debut.

Nobody will hold a Decision loss versus Brendan Allen against him, but he clearly had issues with a balanced fighter. It’s possible he has further trouble against Stolzfus, who is also a submission artist that has yet to be finished.

My main MMA DFS strategy is to load up on three stud fighters. They either feel like terrific bets to win, inflict a bunch of damage, or have the ability to end their fight early.

To be honest, Figueiredo, Royval, and Shevchenko kind of check all of those boxes.

Where I differentiate is what is going to separate my lineup from the rest, as I have some underdogs I really like. I’ll need three of them to make some magic happen, but if they do, I should have a squad unique enough to climb the ladder.

Remember, you can fire up this lineup in daily fantasy MMA contests, or you can just pick your spots via my advice. That, or you can apply this insight to actual MMA betting.

Just make sure if you plan on betting on UFC 255, you use the very best UFC betting websites you can find online.