RotoWire Staff Picks: UFC 244

Kelvin Gastelum is one of the few heavy favorites on a UFC 244 card loaded with parity, but is that enough to make him a unanimous selection? The RotoWire MMA checks in with their picks.
RotoWire Staff Picks: UFC 244
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Even without a traditional title at stake, the UFC delivers with a loaded card in its annual pilgrimage to Madison Square Garden. In the main event, fan-favorite Nate Diaz will take on a scorching hot Jorge Masvidal to determine the trademarked (yes, trademarked), baddest mother****** in the fight game.

As a reminder, these are purely picks. If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's 244 Preview or tune into Fight IQ live Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST on the RotoWire Youtube Channel.
 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT CLASS

JONJAKERICHARD

Jorge Masvidal (-175) vs.

Nate Diaz (+155)

BMF

Championship

MasvidalMasvidalMasvidal

Darren Till (+170) vs.

Kelvin Gastelum

Middleweight

GastelumGastelumGastelum

Stephen Thompson (-115) vs.

Vicente Luque (-105)

Welterweight

ThompsonLuqueThompson

Blagoy Ivanov (-125) vs.

Derrick Lewis (+105)

Heavyweight

LewisLewisIvanov

Kevin Lee (+140) vs.

Gregor Gillespie (-160)

Lightweight

GillespieGillespieGillespie
UFC 244 RECORD 3-22-32-3
2019 RECORD 34-1931-2228-25
2019 PERCENTAGE .642.585.528
ALL-TIME  129-81129-81 104-77
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .614.614.575

 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT CLASS

CHRIS OLSONJOE SUNTZUSHAUN TheDFSniper

Jorge Masvidal (-175) vs.

Nate Diaz (+155)

BMF

Championship

MasvidalMasvidalDiaz

Darren Till (+170) vs.

Kelvin Gastelum

Middleweight

GastelumGastelumGastelum

Stephen Thompson (-115) vs.

Vicente Luque (-105)

Welterweight

ThompsonLuqueThompson

Blagoy Ivanov (-125) vs.

Derrick Lewis (+105)

Heavyweight

IvanovLewisLewis

Kevin Lee (+140) vs.

Gregor Gillespie (-160)

Lightweight

GillespieGillespieGillespie
UFC 244 RECORD 2-32-32-3
2019 RECORD 29-2430-2331-22
2019 PERCENTAGE .547.566.585
ALL-TIME 80-7057-4261-38
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .533.576.616

THE TEAM

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.

Richard Mann: Richard is a stats-based analyst that has appeared on ESPN MMA via Fightmetric. For RotoWire, he contributes as a fight recap writer and handles event recaps in our Fight Stat Wrap column. Follow him on Twitter at @RichardAMann.

Chris Olson: Contributor at RotoWire to "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," as well as DFS Baseball, and MMA 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 4th 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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RotoWire Editor for College Basketball and MMA. Frequent podcaster, plus radio and video guest. Follow Jake on Twitter at @RotoJake.
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