UFC Fight Night DFS Picks & Playbook: Lemos vs. Jandiroba Cheat Sheet, 7/20

UFC Fight Night: Lemos vs. Jandiroba takes place this Saturday live from The UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card kicks off with the Prelims at 5:00 PM ET on ESPN2/ESPN+, followed by the Main Card at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN2/ESPN+.

The main event this week features former title challenger Amanda Lemos as she takes on submission specialist Virna Jandiroba. Check out all of my latest UFC DFS picks, stats, predictions and matchup breakdowns for the entire fight card below, and as always, feel free to reach out to me in Discord or on X/Twitter at @MikeIannoneDFS.

Now let's look at some top UFC Fight Night DFS picks and plays for Saturday's event. Good luck with your MMA daily fantasy lineups!

DFS Picks, Playbook & DraftKings UFC Lineup Advice: UFC Fight Night, Lemos vs. Jandiroba

Main Event

Another WMMA Main Event, but this time I think we have a better chance at seeing a finish. Lemos has gone five rounds with the current champion, and while she wasn't finished in the fight it showed she has major holes in her wrestling and submission games. Lemos is also a powerful striker, so if this stays standing, she should be able to land decent volume and power on Virna. I think it’s either Lemos by KO/Decision or Virna by submission, and this week I'm going to lean towards the cheaper fighter in Lemos especially since this fight is a pick'em. My major concern is that since this is a smaller cage in the UFC Apex it will be easier for Virna to get a hold of her, and if she does get it to the ground early it could be major trouble for Lemos.

Expensive Fighters

This is more of a play on fading Kelleher than it is on Gibson. Gibson has struggled at the UFC level, but he does have great volume. Kelleher at his best could give a tough fight to almost anyone in the division but as he is getting older his chin is starting to fade on him. If someone is getting KO'd it is going to be Kelleher so for that reason, and the ceiling that Gibson has, he is going to be my preferred play this week.

Maverick has the wrestling upside and we just saw Barbosa gas out recently. Early in this fight it should be close, but as it gets later, I could see Maverick running away with this and landing a bunch of takedowns. She rarely gets the submissions that she tries for, but she does put effort in getting the finish, so if Barbosa is gassed out a 3rd Round submission wouldn't shock me.

Amil can be taken down, but after Maverick I think there is a clear level of distrust that I have in the rest of the high-priced fighters this week. Lee has power and can wrestle a bit so he should be able to win exchanges, but Amil moves forward relentlessly so if he isn't careful, he could get caught. I think someone is getting KO'd in this fight, and while I'm not confident in Lee's ability I do think the winner of this fight scores well.

Algeo at his best is someone who can push a pace and have relentless volume on his opponents. Choi's one fight in the octagon since 2019 was against Kyle Nelson and he was taken down almost effortlessly so even though Algeo doesn't wrestle often it could be part of his game plan this week. I can't pick someone in Choi who is making only their second walk to the octagon since 2019 against someone like Algeo who we know gets stronger as the fight goes on.

Putting Park here as someone who I am looking to fade. Park isn't a great wrestler, but he does use his trips effectively against lower levels of competition, but Tavares might be the toughest fight he has had. Tavares has made a career of stuffing takedowns and wearing opponents down over three rounds. I don't think a finish materializes here, and if Park can't wrestle, I don't think he gets anywhere close to paying off his price tag. FIGHT CANCELED DUE TO PARK MEDICAL ISSUE

Mid-Range Fighters

Garcia is here to brawl. He lands a ton of power and has a ceiling that is unmatched outside of the Main Event fighters. He goes into danger so there is always the chance he gets KO'd, but he more often than not is going to land something heavy in the fight.

It's a weird week in the mid-range. I think Carolina is the better all-around fighter than Pudilova so at 8k she fits most builds. She doesn't have the highest ceiling, but at slight underdog money scoring 85 pts may be enough depending on how the rest of the card shakes out.

This is another tight mid-range fight but I'm leaning with Silva. I think his wrestling and grappling is far ahead of Durden's and on the feet it should be close. He switched camps recently, so it is always risky taking a fighter coming out of a new camp, but I think he gets it done here by decision.

Ogden puts up more volume than Loik, and if he survives the early swarm and takedown attempts, he should be able to win the fight the later it goes. It's a close fight and the odds indicate that, but for that reason I'm leaning towards the underdog.

I'm putting Holobaugh in here, even though I would normally put him in the price down options. He is only a +114 underdog at $7500 and I honestly think he wins this fight and would take him even at a pick'em. Holobaugh sometimes gets too comfortable off of his back when he is taken down, but I think he'll have more urgency this fight. Skill for skill I think he is the better fighter and I'll be taking him to win outright.

I don't think he's better than Garcia, but he has about a 40% chance to win this fight inside the distance, and at his price, that is insanely valuable. I'll want someone from this fight in most of my lineups.

Durden doesn't have much finishing ability, and outside of a KO he probably can't score enough to get on the optimal lineup. I'll be minimizing my exposure to him this week.

Paydown Fighters

As long as the fight stays standing Amil will be pressuring. He's the clear underdog because he is so one dimensional, but his one dimension is pressure, and we are always looking for that on DraftKings.

This fight is a coin flip and because of that, and the salary of Peterson, I'm going to be siding with him. He is the more likely wrestler, but I expect this to take place mainly in the clinch and up against the cage. In a heavyweight fight that is favored to go the distance I'll almost always take the dog.

There's a chance Algeo's chin is cooked and if that's the case I could see a KO here. It has to happen early because Algeo gets stronger the later the fight goes.

Tavares is a crafty veteran who has gone the distance with some of the best in the division. He doesn't get finishes so he'll have to put up volume and while he doesn't chain wrestle I wouldn't be surprised if he got a takedown or two. Any win at $7200 has a chance to hit optimal so he's worth a shot if you are playing a bunch of lineups. FIGHT CANCELED DUE TO PARK MEDICAL ISSUE

Barbosa starts fast, but this week I'm trying to not pick on the top two priced fighters. She needs to have early success or it's going to be a long day for her, and even if she does, I think Maverick will win the third round so her score is pretty capped.

This could be Kelleher's retirement fight and outside of a guillotine I can't see him getting a win here. While I don't love him this week, we normally get fighters priced at +400 or more as the lowest priced fighter, this is a weird card with no one even hitting +200 so you don't need to fade him.

Sample UFC Fight Night DFS Lineup

Live Dogs

• Amil, Lemos, Silva, Ogden, Carolina

Lemos vs. Jandiroba UFC Fight Night Picks & Stats