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The #7-ranked light heavyweight in the UFC, Volkan Oezdemir, takes on a debutante promotion opponent Jiri Prochazka at UFC 251 from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi tonight. But should either of these fighters provide any DFS value?
DraftKings DFS Values
Volkan Oezdemir: $8,400
Jiri Prochazka: $7,800
Oezdemir is the -159 favorite on the money line, with Prochazka coming in at +129.
Oezdemir doesn’t score a lot of DFS points, but he did have a KO win over Ilir Latifi for 122 of them last August. He’s 5-3 in the UFC with three stoppages, but his losses are to really outstanding fighters like Daniel Cormier and a split decision L to Dominick Reyes.
And here’s the thing about Prochazka: It’s a lot of hype around a guy with a 26-3-1 record with 25 stoppages. But watch this “highlight” tape: Are we sure he’s good? Normally you only see that many tomato cans in a supermarket. He doesn’t appear to have fought anyone of Oezdemir’s quality, and though he is rangy, he doesn’t look particularly quick.
We’ve been wrong before, but this one is based on scouting: We’ll have Oezdemir on the money line, with an early stoppage, and on our DFS rosters. He puts this one away in a hurry. Prochazka may continue to develop, but fighters that move up in quality this fast don’t often succeed the first time through.