The UFC returns to Las Vegas Saturday night for its first APEX event of 2026, headlined by a bantamweight bout between Mario Bautista and Vinicius Oliveira.
Bautista enters as a -148 moneyline favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while Oliveira sits as a +124 underdog.
Along with traditional sports betting and daily fantasy, you can now have more action than ever for UFC Vegas 113: Bautista vs. Oliveira. Check out DraftKings UFC Pick6 for my favorite picks for Saturday’s UFC event.
Mario Bautista More Than 21:30 Fight Time
Mario Bautista’s climb up the rankings hasn’t been fueled by flashy finishes. The American bantamweight has gone to the judges’ scorecards in five straight fights dating back to August 2023. His opponent, Vinicius Oliveira, has followed a similar path — riding three consecutive unanimous decision victories.
Both fighters have shown strong durability across nine-plus-year professional careers, and with neither pushing for finishes of late, Saturday night’s main event shapes up as an extended, measured battle.
Kyoji Horiguchi More Than 50.5 Significant Strikes
Japanese flyweight Kyoji Horiguchi makes his second trip to the Octagon after locking up a third-round submission against Tagir Ulanbekov in his UFC debut last November. While he landed only 49 significant strikes in that bout — falling just short of the posted total — he averaged 68 significant strikes across his previous three fights.
The former Bellator and RIZIN contender seems poised to surpass the 50.5 mark on Saturday night against Amir Albazi, who is notoriously difficult to control and has never been finished. Albazi, however, has absorbed some serious damage in his last two fights: he took 99 significant strikes from Kai Kara-France and 132 from Brandon Moreno.
Jailton Almeida More Than 17.5 Significant Strikes
Jailton Almeida is looking to bounce back from a controversial split-decision loss to Alexander Volkov in October — where his 11 minutes of inconsequential control time weren’t rewarded by the judges. As articulated by Dana White himself: “You can’t win a fight by just lying on top of someone.”
Look for Almeida — who boasts a 95% finish rate — to be much more aggressive Saturday night in order to leave nothing to chance. He should land at least 17.5 significant strikes against Rizvan Kuniev, who has never been finished and absorbed 56 significant strikes in his UFC debut against Curtis Blaydes last June.
Michal Oleksiejczuk Less Than 35.5 Significant Strikes
Michal Oleksiejczuk has returned to form since joining the Fighting Nerds, rebounding from a miserable 2024 with back-to-back first-round knockouts in 2025. The Polish southpaw owns 13 career first-round finishes, and each of his last six wins has come within the opening five minutes. He needed fewer than 35.5 significant strikes to secure five of those victories.
“Hussar” enters as a -250 favorite to win by knockout against Canadian veteran Marc-Andre Barriault, who has dropped four of his last five bouts — a brutal stretch that includes a pair of first-round stoppages. Given his recent form, expect Oleksiejczuk to find his opponent’s chin early and secure a victory before reaching 35.5 significant strikes.
Nikolay Veretennikov More Than 84.5 Fantasy Points
Welterweight contender Nikolay Vretennikov has struggled inside the Octagon, going just 1–3 since his UFC debut in August 2024. Still, Saturday night presents the Kazakhstani sambo specialist with a golden opportunity to bounce back — and rack up a lofty fantasy point total — as a heavy -298 favorite against Niko Price.
Price, also 36, has lost four of his last five bouts dating back to December 2022, suffering three stoppage defeats in that stretch. Expect Vretennikov, who boasts a 77% finish rate, to steamroll Price and pile up fantasy points in the process.
Muin Gafurov More Than 2:30 Control Time
Tajikistani bantamweight Muin Gafurov has logged more than two and a half minutes of control time in each of his last two bouts, including 6:38 against Kyung Ho Kang in June 2024. He should clear the modest total once again on Saturday night against Jakub Wiklacz.
Despite winning his UFC debut against Patchy Mix last October, the Polish prospect was taken down five times and controlled for over seven minutes by the former Bellator bantamweight champ.
What is DraftKings Pick6?
Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy variant where you build a lineup (your “Pick Set”) of 2+ players and select whether or not you believe each will outperform their listed stat projection. Enter your Pick Set in Pick6 contests to compete against other users. Get enough picks correct and win a share of cash prizes.
How to Play DraftKings Pick6
Create a Pick Set
Create a Pick Set by choosing 2+ players from the same sport and Pick Group (a set of picks available from a group of set competitions). For each player, simply select if you think they’ll have more or less than their listed stat projection. In each Pick Set, you can not pick the same player twice, and you must pick players from at least two different teams.
Enter an Amount
Once you finalize your Pick Set, choose your entry fee amount. Your entries will be automatically distributed into available contests, subject to your confirmation.
Sweat Your Picks
When the games go live, use the My Picks tab to follow your picks in real time to track how your players are performing against their projections and how they stack up against other users.
Compete for Prizes
Make enough correct picks and win a share of the contests’ guaranteed prizes. Any prizes won will be credited to your DraftKings account after contests are finalized.
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