Arman Tsarukyan is favored against Damir Ismagulov at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland on Saturday, December 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event is one of 14 fights on ESPN+. Tsarukyan is 18-3 in his career, while Ismagulov is 24-1 in his career. There are a total of 14 fights, all on ESPN+ at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland. Let’s look at the bout between Tsarukyan vs. Ismagulov and UFC predictions.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 17 with 14 fights, all on ESPN+.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland Betting
Arman Tsarukyan (18-3, 5-2 UFC)
Tsarukyan came into the UFC with a record of 13-1 and he has five wins and two losses in the UFC. He defeated Olivier Aubin-Mercier by unanimous decision, Davi Ramos by unanimous decision, Matt Frevola by unanimous decision, Christos Giagos by TKO, and Joel Álvarez by TKO; while losing to Islam Makhachev by unanimous decision and Mateusz Gamrot by unanimous decision. Tsarukyan has been a pro since 2015 and he has seven wins by TKO/KO and five by submission. He has eight first round finishes.
Damir Ismagulov (24-1, 5-0 UFC)
Ismagulov came into the UFC with a record of 19-1 and he has five wins and no losses in the UFC. He defeated Alex Gorgees by unanimous decision, Joel Álvarez by unanimous decision, Thiago Moisés by unanimous decision, Rafael Alves by unanimous decision, and Guram Kutateladze by split decision. Ismagulov’s only loss in his career was against Ramazan Esenbaev by unanimous decision in September of 2015. Ismagulov has been a pro since 2014 and he has 12 wins by TKO/KO and one by submission. He has eight first round finishes.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Tsarukyan 3.76 /Ismagulov 4.05
Striking Accuracy: Tsarukyan 45% /Ismagulov 42%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Tsarukyan 1.86/Ismagulov 2.56
Defense: Tsarukyan 54% /Ismagulov 63%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Tsarukyan 2.71 /Ismagulov 1.40
Takedown Accuracy: Tsarukyan 33% /Ismagulov 28%
Takedowns defended: Tsarukyan 75% /Ismagulov 90%
Submission average: Tsarukyan 0.0 /Ismagulov 0.0
UFC Picks
One of the best fights on Saturday should be the matchup between Tsarukyan and Ismagulov. Both fighters have a lot of power and this should be an exciting matchup of lightweights. Tsarukyan is coming off a great matchup against Mateusz Gamrot in June in a fight that could have gone either way, but judges gave it to Gamrot. On the other side, Ismagulov has won 19 straight fights, including all five of his UFC bouts. It wasn’t easy last time out for Ismagulov, but he got past Guram Kutateladze.
It is easy to make a case for both of these fighters, as neither has done much wrong. Tsarukyan has just two UFC losses and it is hard to dock him for losing to Islam Makhachev. We know that Ismagulov has done nothing wrong in the UFC, but how much he has been tested is questionable. This is a tough fight to pick, and it may come down to what strategy Tsarukyan uses. You have to think that Ismagulov will want to keep the fight standing, so Tsarukyan should be looking to get the fight to the mat.
Whether he has the ability to get Ismagulov to the mat is the question. What isn’t in question is that this fight looks to be very even. I am really surprised that Tsarukyan is listed as almost a 2-1 favorite in this fight. There is no question that the value is on Ismagulov, so I will take a flyer on him at the plus price. I also think the rounds are worth playing.
This fight looks really even and it would be a bit of a surprise to see a finish. The UFC betting odds price on the rounds going over is a little high at just over 2-1, but I still think that is a solid option for this fight. I’ll also take the rounds to go over 2.5 for this Saturday bout.
| DATE |
FIGHTERS |
MONEY LINE |
| 12/17 |
Sean Strickland |
-115 |
| Jared Cannonier |
-115 |
| 12/17 |
Damir Ismagulov |
+158 |
| Arman Tsarukyan |
-200 |
| 12/17 |
Alessandro Costa |
+334 |
| Amir Albazi |
-470 |
| 12/17 |
Alex Caceres |
+135 |
| Julian Erosa |
-170 |
| 12/17 |
Bobby Green |
+127 |
| Drew Dober |
-160 |
| 12/17 |
Cheyanne Vlismas |
-200 |
| Cory McKenna |
+158 |
| 12/17 |
Matt Semelsberger |
+211 |
| Jake Matthews |
-275 |
| 12/17 |
Deron Winn |
+135 |
| Julian Marquez |
-170 |
| 12/17 |
Saidyokub Kakhramonov |
-115 |
| Said Nurmagomedov |
-115 |
| 12/17 |
Rafa Garcia |
-135 |
| Maheshate |
+105 |
| 12/17 |
David Dvorak |
+194 |
| Manel Kape |
-250 |
| 12/17 |
Journey Newson |
+218 |
| Sergey Morozov |
-285 |
| 12/17 |
Cody Brundage |
+214 |
| Michal Oleksiejczuk |
-280 |
| 12/17 |
Rinat Fakhretdinov |
-150 |
| Bryan Battle |
+120 |
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