Dana White's Contender Series
Dana White's Contender Series Picks: Season 9, Week 7 | DraftKings Sportsbook
Tim Finnegan of DraftKings Breaks Down This Week’s Episode Of Dana White’s Contender Series
Season 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series continued last week at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and four fighters earned a UFC contract: Hecher Sosa, Tommy Gantt, Cody Chovancek, and Iwo Baraniewski. Baraniewski’s 20-second KO of Mahamed Aly was the highlight of the night. To land the knockout blow, Baraniewski countered a jab by timing an overhand right as Aly moved left into the power of the strike, showcasing impressive timing and anticipation.
A DraftKings Sportsbook bettor cashed in during last week's event, turning $10 into over $2,000 with a Dana White’s Contender Series Parlay Bet featuring the following picks:
- Tommy Gantt To Win By Submission
- Iwo Baraniewski To Win By KO/TKO/DQ
- Hecher Sosa To Win By Decision
As a result of all of these outcomes hitting in the Parlay Bet, the DWCS bettor took home $2,103.75.
Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series airs on Tuesday, September 23 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+. This week features an exciting middleweight bout between Croatian prospect Dani Barbir and Lithuanian prospect Mantas Kondratavicius.
Dana White’s Contender Series Odds: Week 7
- Rafael Tobias (-445) vs Jair De Oliveira (+310)
- Justice Torres (+160) vs Javier Reyes (-210)
- Jeisla Chaves (+165) vs Sofia Montenegro (-215)
- Brahyam Zurcher (-154) vs Murtazali Magomedov (+120)
- Dani Barbir (-145) vs Mantas Kondratavicius (+114)
Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app or check out Dana White’s Contender Series Odds Page!
Dani Barbir vs. Mantas Kondratavicius
Barbir is the middleweight champion in Fight Nation Championship, a promotion based in Southeastern Europe. Barbir has good size and length for middleweight, standing 6’3” with a 79-inch reach. Barbir has long legs and uses his legs well for attacks, throwing a variety of kicks from different angles to different targets, including the liver, midsection, legs and head. Barbir has featured spinning back kicks, wheel kicks, high kicks from both the lead leg and rear leg, and front kicks. In Barbir’s most recent fight in FNC, he landed a front kick to the jaw to drop his opponent and then threw a flurry of ground-and-pound that should have resulted in a stoppage. Barbir finished the fight shortly after with an arm-triangle choke.
Kondratavicius has displayed good distance striking and strong punching power. Five of Kondratavicius’ seven career wins are by KO/TKO, including a quick 47-second knockout in his most recent fight. Kondratavicius recorded the KO off a 1-2 combo and landed a hard right cross to the jaw to finish his opponent. Kondratavicius has the punching power to end the fight with a finish if he lands clean.
Kondratavicius’ striking looks good, but he has displayed some deficiencies on the ground. In his only pro MMA loss, Kondratavicius was taken down and mounted several times, absorbing ground-and-pound from dominant positions before ultimately being submitted via rear-naked choke.
Kondratavicius will be a threat at distance, so Barbir’s best path to victory is probably to get this fight to the ground and deliver ground-and-pound from top position or hunt a submission finish. Barbir has displayed the skills to execute this game plan and take advantage of Kondratavicius’ vulnerabilities on the ground.
Prediction: Dani Barbir to win
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.