Dana White’s Contender Series continues at the Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, depicting the fates of more upcoming fighters on the MMA scene. Dana White gave out four contracts in Week 6 of DWCS and we’ll discuss two fighters we expect to not only get a UFC contract but ones to make you some money when making UFC bets. We won’t take a parlay or prop approach, but we’ll give you a parlay to consider.
Lock and an Underdog
Rodriguez to Remain Undefeated
The strength of schedule is the most apparent difference between Christian Rodriguez and Reyes Cortez Jr. Three of the six opponents Cortez Jr. has faced had win-loss records under .500. The most experienced opponent he faced was 6-10.
Rodriguez has had questionable opponents, but not like Cortez. Nor has Rodriguez lost to a 3-4 opponent as Cortez did. Rodriguez’s professional debut came under the Bellator banner and his most recent fight was a TKO victory in the third round at Cage Fury Fight Championship. Both are very respectable MMA promotions.
Cortez has competed mostly on a local circuit in Arizona facing lesser competition. Rodriguez’s experience will either shock or overwhelm Cortez.
Pick: Christian Rodriguez -210
First on Card, First to Upset
Kathryn Paprocki will be the one fight to consider as an underdog. She opened as a +125 underdog, got to +155 and she’s +250 right now if wish to bet online.
The odds are understandable. Paprocki has less experience in the MMA, boxing and kickboxing realms, but her toughness is being overlooked. The lack of footage on Paprocki may be forcing the public to be sold on Silva winning this fight, but Silva’s striking ability is a contributing factor as well.
Paprocki getting caught with a big shot from Silva should not be shocking. How Paprocki responds to adversity is what makes this fight harder to handicap when betting online. Paprocki showed she’s capable of that in her last fight. Facing more technical fighters will not make her feel uncomfortable.
Conditioning Edge?
Canceled fights have forced both Silva and Paprocki back to training while waiting for other opportunities to arise. The bulk of Silva’s experience comes in the kickboxing realm. Silva was initially going to face Silvana Gómez Juárez in her DWCS debut, but Juarez signed a UFC contract, extending Silva’s MMA layoff further. She hadn’t fought in MMA since 2019.
Paprocki had two canceled fights, extending her inactivity in the cage as well. However, the last time she fought in a cage was in May .
She suffered an incredible cut in the first round that was leaking all over the canvas. Not only was she unfazed, but she also smiled at the doctor as he was inspecting her cut. She came back and won the fight via a rear-naked choke.
Her body is more conditioned to an MMA fight and she has recent cage time to her advantage as well.
Expect Paprocki to pull off the upset and grind out a decision win over Silva.
Pick: Kathryn Paprocki +250
We give you a parlay to consider
There are two favorites to consider in a parlay. The first part of the parlay was mentioned above. Pair up Rodriguez -210 and Martin Buday -750 to give you some value for the heavier favorites on the card.
