Betting
Dana White’s Contender Series Picks: Week 3 | DraftKings Sportsbook
Tim Finnegan of DraftKings Breaks Down This Week’s Episode Of Dana White’s Contender Series
The 2024 edition of Dana White’s Contender Series continued last week at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and four fighters emerged with a UFC contract: Andreas Gustafsson, Rizvan Kuniev, Cortavious Romious, and Cody Haddon. Gustafsson delivered impressive knee strikes from the clinch to win his fight by KO/TKO in Round 2, while Kuniev beat the buzzer with a TKO stoppage with one second left in Round 1. The only bout to go the distance among the contract winners was Cortavious Romious' fight vs Michael Imperato.
A DraftKings Sportsbook bettor cashed in on these outcomes, turning $100 into approximately $2,000 with a three-leg Dana White’s Contender Series Parlay Bet featuring the following picks:
- Rizvan Kuniev to Win By KO/TKO/DQ or Decision
- Andreas Gustafsson vs Pat Pytlik: Round 2 Winning Round
- Cortavious Romious vs Michael Imperato: Over 1.5 Total Rounds
As a result of all of these outcomes hitting in the Parlay Bet, the DWCS bettor took home $2,080.00.
Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series airs on Tuesday, August 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+. This week features the DWCS debut of former Division 1 All-American wrestler Nick Piccininni, an exciting prospect in the flyweight division.
Dana White’s Contender Series Odds: Week 3
- Jack Duffy (+230) vs Nick Piccininni (-315)
- Malcolm Wellmaker (-160) vs Adam Bramhald (+124)
- Marco Tulio (-425) vs Matthieu Duclos (+300)
- Bogdan Grad (-145) vs Michael Aswell Jr. (+114)
- Andrey Pulyaev (+150) vs Liam Anderson (-195)
Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app or check out Dana White’s Contender Series Odds Page!
Nick Piccininni vs Jack Duffy
Piccininni has an elite wrestling background. Piccininni wrestled at Oklahoma State, where he was a three-time D1 All-American. Notable athletes who transitioned from Oklahoma State's wrestling program to MMA include UFC legends Daniel Cormier, Randy Couture, and Don Frye. High-level wrestling is a great base to have for MMA because great wrestlers can usually dictate where the fight takes place and avoid bad bottom positions on the ground. A strong wrestling background also helps with clinching and tying up when hurt from strikes, which can buy fighters time to recover.
Piccininni’s takedowns are obviously strong given his background. Once he gets his opponents down, Piccininni likes to tie his opponents’ legs up using his own legs to control their lower body, similar to what UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov used to do. Nurmagomedov would teach this technique by saying it was like riding a horse—the goal is to control your opponent with your legs so that your arms are free to punch and control your opponent’s upper body. Controlling the legs also helps prevent opponents from walk-walking back to their feet to escape bottom position. Piccininni’s A game has been to take his opponent down, pass to a dominant position, and finish the fight with a choke.
Piccininni’s distance striking is still developing. In his fight against Freddie Rodriguez, Piccininni got dropped by a left hook after Piccininni left his chin stationary and his right hand at his waist while inside the pocket. However, Piccininni quickly recovered and ended the fight shortly after by taking Rodriguez down, passing to mount, and securing an arm-triangle choke. Piccininni has a good squeeze and has finished five of his six pro fights by choke, including three by arm triangle.
Piccininni’s opponent, Jack Duffy, started fighting professionally in 2012 but has only fought twice since 2019. In Duffy’s most recent fight, he was very offensive grappling-heavy. Duffy immediately shot takedowns and then transitioned to the back in each of the three rounds. Duffy was unable to finish from the back and won a unanimous decision on the back of takedowns and control time from a dominant position. This strategy is unlikely to work against a great wrestler like Piccininni, who will likely stuff Duffy’s takedown attempts and scramble out of any potentially bad positions. Duffy’s best chance is probably to take advantage of the fact that Piccininni is taking this fight on short notice. If Duffy can last into the third round, it’s possible Piccininni’s gas tank will be low, which could create openings to land strikes from distance.
While taking this fight on short notice could create some issues, Piccininni’s wrestling is on another level, and he should still be able to impose his will against Duffy by taking him down and winning the fight on the mat.
Prediction: Nick Piccininni to win by submission
Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app or check out Dana White’s Contender Series Odds Page!
The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKings and experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences!
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
Tags