This article is part of our DraftKings MMA series.

Two of the UFC's most marketable young stars take the stage in the first of three events over the next three days.

If you're hoping to turn the event into an opportunity to build your DFS bankroll, DraftKings.com has you covered with a full slate of contests. Players get a $50,000 budget to select five fighters, and the scoring is distributed as follows:

Moves Scoring
Significant Strikes (SS): +0.5 PTS
Advance (ADVC): +1 PT
Takedown (TD): +2 PTS
Reversal/Sweep (REV): +2 PTS
Knockdown (KD): +3 PTS

Fight Conclusion Bonuses
1st Round Win (1rW+): +100 PTS
2nd Round Win (2rW+): +70 PTS
3rd Round Win (3rW+): +50 PTS
4th Round Win (4rW+): +40 PTS
5th Round Win (5rW+): +40 PTS
Decision Win (WBD+): +25 PTS

Scoring Notes
Significant Strikes are any Distance Strike or Clinch/Ground Strikes that are considered "Power Strikes" by official scorers.

Advances include: To Half Guard, To Side Control, To Mount, To Back Control

Now, on to the fights...

Main Event – Women's Strawweight

This is one of the rare instances when a fighter (Joanne Calderwood) gets injured and we end up with a better fight than the one that was originally scheduled. Namajunas has been looking for a quality opponent for quite a while now and she will get one in this fight. We all know how marketable the 21-year-old VanZant is, but her fighting skills often get overlooked. Her biggest asset is her gas tank. She fights at a pace that her opponents can rarely match. Namajunas looked tired in her Ultimate Fighter finale loss to Carla Esparza and I would be very worried that PVZ will be able to tire her out quickly in this fight. That being said, Rose clearly has the better ground game of the two women. If she can manage to get VanZant to the mat, she has the submission skills to end the fight. The other problem for Namajunas is the fact that her takedown defense during her brief UFC career is a paltry 28 percent. That's not going to cut it, especially against better fighters. PVZ isn't close to a finished product, but her gas tank alone is going to give her a decent chance to win every fight she's in. I'm not as high on Rose as others. I think she has more holes in her game than people talk about, but she's still an easy top-10 strawweight. I would probably rank her somewhere between 5-7. I could see her winning this fight. It's a tough matchup for the young VanZant, who has faced nobodies for the vast majority of her young career. I'm taking PVZ here, but I'm curious to see how she will respond to what is clearly the biggest test of her career. Namajunas isn't all that big of an underdog here
THE PICK: VanZant

Co-Main Event – Lightweight

I've been a Miller supporter for quite a long time, but his game is slipping. He's been in the game a long time and he has a lot of miles on his body. He basically relies on grit and his submission game at this point. Miller will never give up in a fight, but he is going to lose striking battles against better fighters. Chiesa has a distinct height advantage in this fight, as well as an advantage in the reach department. When you combined that with his unorthodox style, I like Chiesa's chances if he can keep this a striking battle. Chiesa has also always exhibited terrific takedown defense, an attribute that should help him immensely in this fight. Miller can win this fight if he can consistently drag Chiesa to the mat, but I don't think he'll be able to do that. Once an easy top-10 fighter, Miller is going to find himself unranked if he loses this fight. It's an interesting matchup in styles, one that favors Chiesa.
THE PICK: Chiesa

Lightweight

Hopefully you enjoy hearing about Northcutt, because you're going to see more of him than you can handle over the coming weeks, months, and years. The youngest fighter on the UFC roster at just 19 years of age, Northcutt destroyed Francisco Trevino in his UFC debut in 57 seconds in October. Trevino, who missed weight for the fight and has since been released, barely qualifies as a worthy opponent, but Northcutt looked unstoppable during the brief fight. Pfister is actually a bit better opponent than I figured the UFC would hand Northcutt for his second fight, but he still isn't one who projects to threaten him in anyway. Pfister relies on his wrestling, doing his best work while controlling his opponent on the mat. We've never actually seen Northcutt have to defend a takedown in the UFC, but he's so strong physically and the rest of his game appears so refined that it would be a surprise if his takedown defense were a weakness. The Vegas odds are ridiculous and the DK salary is way too high for me to take a chance on him, but Northcutt has the look of a potential future superstar.
THE PICK: Northcutt

Middleweight

Theodorou gets a lot of flack for his good looks and his tweets about his terrific hair, but the guy is a quality fighter. His undefeated pro record is all you need to look at to figure that out. Theodorou's biggest asset is the fact that he has arguably the best cardio in the middleweight division. The guy just never gets tired. Combine that with precision striking and a good wrestling base and you have a fighter who is one of the more underrated guys in the 185-pound division. Santos is a real threat, albeit one who has struggled against better fighters. Santos is coming off back-to-back first-round knockouts, most recently against Steve Bosse in June (if you didn't see it, look it up on YouTube). Santos' best hope to win this fight is to land the one huge shot that finished Bosse, Andy Enz and Ronny Markes in the first-round. Unfortunately for Santos, Theodorou is in a class (or two, or three) above all of those guys. He's too well conditioned and too smart to get into a slugfest. Guys with the power of Santos always have a shot to win, but they generally come up short if they can't land that one monster shot. I think that will be the case here.
THE PICK: Theodorou

Other Bouts

Welterweight

Welterweight

Middleweight

Bantamweight

Welterweight

Welterweight

Featherweight

Women's Strawweight