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Dana White's Contender Series
Dana White's Contender Series Picks: Week 2 | DraftKings Sportsbook
Tim Finnegan of DraftKings Breaks Down This Week’s Episode Of Dana White’s Contender Series
The new season of Dana White’s Contender Series got underway last week at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and the show started out with fireworks. In the opening fight, Lone'er Kavanagh landed a devastating left hook on An Tuan Ho, resulting in one of the most brutal knockouts in the history of the show. The second fight also featured an explosive knockout, as Jose Delgado perfectly timed a knee as Ernie Juarez ducked, landing flush on the jaw. Four out of the five fights were finished by KO/TKO, and all four fighters who won their fight by KO/TKO---Lone'er Kavanagh, Jose Delgado, Bruno Lopes and Mansur Abdul-Malik---were rewarded with a UFC contract.
A DraftKings Sportsbook bettor cashed in during last week's event, turning $150 into over $2,200 with a four-leg Dana White’s Contender Series Parlay Bet featuring the following picks:
- Jose Delgado Moneyline
- Bruno Lopes Moneyline
- Mansur Abdul-Malik Moneyline
- Rami Hamed To Win By Decision
As a result of all of these outcomes hitting in the Parlay Bet, the DWCS bettor took home $2,211.62.
Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series airs on Tuesday, August 20 at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+. This week features the DWCS return of Torrez Finney, an exciting prospect in the middleweight division.
Dana White’s Contender Series Odds: Week 2
- Billy Brand (+154) vs Cody Haddon (-200)
- Cam Rowston (+280) vs Torrez Finney (-395)
- Cortavious Romious (-298) vs Michael Imperato (+220)
- Rizvan Kuniev (-560) vs Hugo Cunha (+370)
- Andreas Gustafsson (-250) vs Pat Pytlik (+190)
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Torrez Finney vs Cam Rowston
Finney is an explosive athlete with a strong athletic background. Finney played college football at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and was a state champion wrestler in high school. Finney has a very unique build, especially for his weight class. Finney is short for middleweight, standing around 5'8", but he is monstrously wide and oozing with muscle mass. Finney also has long arms for his height---his reach was measured at 75.5", which is a solid reach for the weight class. Finney's shorter height helps him get underneath his opponents' hips easier for entries on lower-body takedowns, which helps with blast doubles and slam finishes, techniques that Finney actively seeks in his fights.
Finney competed on Dana White’s Contender Series last season and won his fight via rear-naked choke in Round 2. Finney pressed forward with offensive grappling throughout the entire fight, recording seven takedowns and six minutes of control time in about eight minutes, which is big grappling volume. However, despite winning via finish, Finney was not given a UFC contract. Finney's striking defense looked very leaky and he got lit up in striking exchanges. Finney got hurt about midway through the first round but recovered and continued to press forward with offensive grappling. Finney ate a lot of good strikes on the feet but his athleticism and power allowed him to defuse the threat with takedowns, giving him time to recover.
Finney is very hittable at distance, but he has monstrous punching power. In Finney's most recent fight, he produced a devastating KO after landing an overhand right. The knockout was so brutal that it went viral on social media. Finney’s huge knockout power is a great equalizer and gives him more margin for error.
Cam Rowston trains with City Kickboxing, one of the top fight teams in the world. City Kickboxing is known for producing great strikers, and their talent pool includes notable UFC fighters Israel Adesanya, Kai Kara-France, Alexander Volkanovski, Carlos Ulberg and Dan Hooker. Rowston’s fight team and training background suggests he will likely have a technical advantage in distance striking, especially given Finney’s defensive issues at distance.
Rowston is 8-2 as a pro, but his strength of schedule has been weak. Rowston does not have any wins over a fighter with a winning professional record. Meanwhile, Finney’s strength of schedule has been much stronger. Four of Finney's five most recent pro wins have been over fighters with winning pro records.
Ultimately, Finney is being rebooked on Dana White’s Contender Series for a reason—it’s because the UFC sees a lot of potential in him. Finney should be able to use his superior athleticism and wrestling to take Rowston down, win this fight by finish, and finally earn a UFC contract.
Prediction: Torrez Finney to win by KO/TKO
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
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