...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Tom Strong, MMATorch UK Contributor
I'm knocking on wood as I type this, but barring something extraordinary cancelling it out, this Saturday night at UFC 194 in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, we will finally get to see the fight we've all been waiting for. The first and only UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo faces the Interim Champion Conor McGregor in what will be the biggest featherweight bout in UFC. That serves as the main event of the evening, whilst UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman puts his title on the line against number one contender Luke Rockhold in the co-main.
Number two and number three ranked middleweights Jacare Souza and Yoel Romero face off as well, with the winner surely getting the next crack at the title. Demian Maia vs. Gunnar Nelson and Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens round out the main card.
The Semi-Final of the World Cup has been drawn as well and all results will be determined via confidence points. See draw below.
Good luck!
All UFC 194 picks should be permitted to tommy.strong@talk21.com before the first prelim fight on Saturday night.
World Cup Semi-Final Draw:
Mark Sacchetti vs. Ben Heather
Chris Houten vs. Tommy Strong
MMATorch Confidence Picks Championship Match Up:
Lisa Smith (Champion) vs. Ben Heather (Challenger)
MMATorch Betting Picks Championship Match Up:
Joel 2/8 Wielenga (Champion) vs. Ben Heather (Challenger)
UFC 194 FIGHT CARD:
Jose Aldo (c) vs. Conor McGregor
Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold
Roaldo Souza vs. Yoel Romero
Demian Maia vs. Gunnar Nelson
Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens
Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Saenz
Tecia Torries vs. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger
Warlley Alves vs. Colby Covington
Leonardo Santos vs. Kevin Lee
Joe Proctor vs. Magomed Mustafaev
John Makdessi vs. Yancy Medeiros
Court McGee vs. Marcio Alexandre Jr
CONFIDENCE PICKS GAME AND RULES
1. UFC 194 is a 12 fight card. Therefore, the point values you assign must range from 12 (most confident) down to 1 (least confident).
2. Additionally, please list your prediction for method of victory, along with the round. Choose either TKO, KO, SUB, UD (Unanimous Decision) or SD (Split Decision).
3. Using UFC 192 as a template, here is how a simple entry might look:
12- Northcutt TKO1
11- Pettis UD
10- Pena UD
9- Benavidez UD
8- Namajunas UD
7- Rodriguez UD
6- Martins UD
5- Tumenov TKO1
4- Magomedov UD
3- Lewis KO1
2- Bader UD
1- Cormier TKO3
4. When you email me your entry, please sort the entry numerically (as shown) from high to low. Thanks.
5. The first tie-breaker is the sum of confidence points. Using the examples above, a Northcutt victory would earn 12 points. Cormier winning would earn just 1 point, etc.
6. If two participants earn the same number of confidence points, the next tie-breaker will be the total number of winners predicted. If Player A earns 40 points on 7 winning picks, and Player B earns 40 points on 6 winning picks, Player A would be declared the winner.
7. The next tie-breaker is the number of victory methods predicted correctly. Next would be predicted rounds of victory. If both players are still tied at this point, both players will be declared the winner. If the tie is for a championship, they would match up again at the next event, along with the winner of the pool. If the tie occurs in the pool itself, both challengers would advance to face the champion at the next event.
BETTING GAME AND RULES
Here are the UFC 194 betting lines courtesy of 5Dimes:
Conor McGregor -110
Jose Aldo +100
Chris Weidman -125
Luke Rockhold +115
Roaldo Souza -135
Yoel Romero +125
Demian Maia -115
Gunnar Nelson -105
Max Holloway -550
Jeremy Stephens +425
Urijah Faber -615
Frankie Saenz +510
Tecia Torries -310
Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger +280
Colby Covington -120
Warlley Alves +100
Kevin Lee -660
Leonardo Santos +540
Magomed Mustafaev -355
Joe Proctor +320
John Makdessi -165
Yancy Medeiros -+145
Court McGee -170
Marcio Alexandre Jr +160
8. Using UFC 192 as a template again, here is how a simple entry might look:
$400 on Cormier $300 on Pena $100 on Martins $200 Parlay on Cormier, Northcutt and Pettis
9. Every player has $1000 of fake, imaginary, theoretical, play money to wager on each event. This is not a real money game, it is strictly for fun.
10. Players must place a bet of at least $50, but no more than $500, on each of 3 or more different fighters. Bets may be in any denomination, as long as the amount falls in the range of $50 - $500.
11. Players may also play a parlay bet. A parlay bet is a bet placed on multiple fighters. All fighters in the parlay must win their fights in order for the parlay to pay off. Parlay bets pay off at a higher rate than a bet on a single fighter. The parlay bet may be placed on either two or three fighters.
12. The minimum parlay bet is $50. The maximum parlay bet is $200. This money comes out of the $1000 allotted to each player. The parlay bet is NOT separate from the $1000 budget. A player is not required to play a parlay bet. The maximum number of parlay bets a player may wager is one.
13. Whether or not a player chooses to place a parlay bet, the player must still place at least three straight bets. It is not legal to place two bets on individual fighters and one parlay bet. No entry is considered valid unless there are a minimum of 3 straight bets placed on individual fighters.
14. If a fight ends in a draw, any money bet on said fighter will be refunded, with no fake money commission taken. If a fighter in a 3-fighter parlay is involved in a draw, that fighter will be removed from the parlay and the 3-fighter parlay will be treated as a 2-fighter parlay. If a fighter in a 2-fighter parlay is involved in a draw, that fighter will be removed from the parlay and the 2-fighter parlay will be treated as a straight bet on the remaining fighter.
JOKER CARD:
15. Joker card can be placed on any fighter up to the maximum value of 4 confidence points, 1 being the minimum.
For example, if you placed your joker card on a fighter with 4 confidence points and the fighter goes on to win, you earn an extra 4 points to your overall total.
If your fighter is to lose, an additional 4 points will be taken from your total.
If it's 3 points on a fighter, an additional 3 would be added to you total, and for a loss 3 extra points taken from your total, and so on.
*The Joker Card (DOES NOT) have to be played, it's very much optional.
FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS:
16. If a fighter has a positive number such as +150 next to his name, he is the underdog, which means a successful bet on that fighter will pay off at a higher rate. That means that if the fighter wins, the bet will payout $150 net profit for every $100 bet on him. If a player were to bet $500 on a +150 fighter, and the fighter wins, the player will profit $750. If a player bets $500 on a +150 fighter, and the fighter loses, the player will lose his $500 bet.
17. If a fighter has a negative number such as -200 next to his name, he is the favourite, which means a successful bet on that fighter will pay off at a lower rate. That means that if the fighter wins, the bet will payout $100 net profit for every $200 bet on him. If a player were to bet $500 on a -200 fighter, and the fighter wins, the player will profit $250. If a player bets $500 on a -200 fighter, and the fighter loses, the player will lose his $500 bet.
Structure for each game
18. For each UFC numbered (or listed otherwise) event, both the Confidence Picks and Betting Game will feature a champion and a challenger facing off against one another. The winner of the head to head battle will be declared the reigning champion.
19. All other players for each UFC numbered (or listed otherwise) event will compete against each other for the right to face off against the reigning champion at the next UFC numbered event. This is known as The Pool.
20. As games administrator, I have the subjective right to eliminate any entry for any reason I deem worthy.
21. Entries may be submitted via email (tommy.strong@talk21.com), or on the comment section of this post. Email is the preferred method, because if a player posts an invalid entry, I have no way to make sure I can get hold of the player so that it may be corrected. Please, under no circumstances should you both email and post on the board your entry. One or the other please,preferably via email.
22. If you have any questions, please email me and ask. For game updates follow me on Twitter, @Strong_te
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