Strategy – FanDuel – DailyFanMMA

Note: This article was written in Apil, 2020 – and should be used as a general guideline if you’re unfamiliar to FanDuel scoring. Any extra notes regarding FanDuel advice can be found within the full Beat Down article.

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Hey guys,

FanDuel just launched MMA, it’s a very exciting and crazy time for all us of. I spent the last hour going over the scoring and below are my initial thoughts. Obviously we will have much more MMA FD content in the future, but for now, use the information below to help guide you.

FANDUEL SCORING

First and foremost, it’s important to note that FanDuel has a MVP mode, which means that you still select six fighters, but you must select one as your MVP. The MVP will accrue 1.5x points.

This section will talk about the differences between FanDuel and DraftKings scoring, but I have posted a section specific to the MVP below.

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NON-MVPs

1st Round Win – 100, DK 90
2nd Round Win – 75, DK 70
3rd Round Win – 50, DK 45
4th Round Win – 35, DK 40
5th Round Win – 25, DK 40
Decision Win – 20, DK 30

Significant Strike – 0.6, DK 0.5
Takedown – 6, DK 5
Knockdown 12, DK 10
Advances/Reversals – 0, DK 3/5
Takedown Defended – 3/0
Submission Attempt – 5/0

What Does This Mean?

The simple answer is that FanDuel rewards finishes more than they reward decisions, at least in comparison to DraftKings.

On first glance, it doesn’t seem too difficult to make up the difference between a decision on FD vs. DK. FanDuel only awards 20 points for a decision, compared to 30 for DraftKings, but they do award 0.1 more per significant strike and 1 point more per takedown. In theory, a fighter could make up that extra 10 points by landing 80 significant strikes and two takedowns.

However, the lack of advances is really a killer. Especially because we don’t often see significant strikes awarded to fighters on the mat. Instead of racking up 12 or more points via advances over the course of 15 minutes, that option is simply not available on FanDuel.

The other part of the equation is that finishing inside the distance, especially early, is rewarded more on FanDuel. You get an extra 10 points for a 1st round finish, plus potentially an extra 2 points for a knockdown. You get an extra 5 points for a 2nd round finish, and an extra 5 points for a 3rd round finish.

EXAMPLES

Let’s look at some examples from the past card, to see how DraftKings scoring compares to FanDuel.

Zhang – 117.5 DK, 125 FD
JJ – 93 DK, 111.6 FD
Madsen – 86.5 DK, 77 FD
Magny – 93 DK, 88.4 FD
Vieira – 108.5 DK, 115
O’Malley – 99 DK, 110.8
Meerschaert 96 DK, 119.6
Dariush 94 DK, 99.2

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Only 2 of the above examples scored less on FD than they scored on DraftKings, Madsen and Magny.

Madsen landed 15 sig. strikes, 8 takedowns, 3 advances and won by decision. He gains only 9.5 points from the strikes/takedowns, loses 10 from the decision and loses out on all the advances.

Magny landed 74 sig. strikes, 4 takedowns, 2 advances and won by decision. He gains 11.4 points from the strikes/takedowns, loses 10 from the decision and loses out on all the advances.

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To me, that’s a major concern, and it’s a very important difference. Grapplers who win by decision ARE NOT as important on FD as they are on DraftKings. We paid up for Madsen at a high price last week because he had the capability to land a bunch of takedowns.

On FanDuel, we can’t afford to do that as much, because takedowns aren’t as important if you go to a decision. The lack of advances basically kills off any grappler’s potential that would tend to score well on DK.

The other part of it is that obviously, finishers score well, regardless of what happens. Especially in the first round, Vieira didn’t land many strikes, got some advances, but still scored higher on FD than DK because he finished in Round 1, and gained an extra 10 points there.

Grapplers who finish in Round 2 or Round 3 are slightly less ideal, but still useful.

Any fighter who gets a knockdown is automatically going to score well. Fighters who get knockdowns tend to finish, and tend to land significant strikes, which are both scored higher on FD than DK.

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For that reason, ITD lines become much more important, especially in fighters who may win by knockout. They are far and away the most important aspect to target, even more so than for DK because the distinction between finishing on FD vs. DK is so much higher.

That likely means I will take more risks on fighters simply based on the ITD line, and the ITD line on a fight as a whole. I will likely not care as much, or at all about high volume wrestlers who don’t have much potential to finish. Fighters who rack up advances are worthless unless they can finish.

MVP MODE

The MVP scores 1.5x higher than the rest of your lineup, which means you absolutely need to prioritize this spot.

The edge that we will have, in my opinion, is dependent on game format.

In cash games, you are looking for safety in this MVP spot. YOU MUST have a winner in this spot. Taking a risk on the Main Event and coming up short is going to absolutely kill your lineups. It is much better to have a fighter that scores 80-100 points in a win consistently, as opposed to taking risks on fighters who can score 120.

In tournaments, we are looking for the highest scoring fighter on the card, period. Safety is meaningless in this spot for tournaments. Yes you will need to have a winner to cash and win a tournament, but that’s not enough. You will very likely need the highest scoring fighter in this MVP spot to win a tournament, and if not, the 2nd or 3rd highest if the scores are close.

For that reason, you must prioritize upside in this position, even if it’s risky. I expect many won’t do this because they’ll want a fighter more likely to win, and they’ll often pay up. I’ll be looking for the fighters most likely to win ITD and focusing on them, regardless of price.