Ion Cutelaba is slightly favored against Devin Clark at UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann on Saturday, September 18 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event is one of 15 fights on ESPN+. Cutelaba is 15-6-1 in his career, while Clark is 12-5 in his career. There are a total of 15 fights on ESPN+ at UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann. Let’s look at the bout between Cutelaba and Clark and UFC predictions.
UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann takes place at UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, September 18 with 15 fights, all on ESPN+.
UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann Betting
Ion Cutelaba (15-6-1, 4-5-1 UFC)
Cutelaba came into the UFC with a record of 11-1 and he has four wins, five losses, and one draw. In his last six fights, he has two wins, three losses, and one draw. He defeated Gadzhimurad Antigulov by TKO and Khalil Rountree Jr. by TKO; while losing to Glover Teixeira by rear-naked choke submission and twice to Magomed Ankalaev by TKO and fighting to a draw against Dustin Jacoby. Cutelaba has been a pro since 2012 and he has 12 wins by TKO/KO and two by submission. He has 13 first round finishes.
I think it might be easy for some people to be down on Cutelaba, as he has no wins in his last three fights, but the only loss that was a bad one was the second loss to Ankalaev. The fight against Jacoby could have gone either way and you can make a case that Cutelaba should have gotten the win. Cutelaba could have some value in this fight at a short price.
Devin Clark (12-5, 6-5 UFC)
Clark came into the UFC with a record of 6-0 and he has six wins and five losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has three wins and three losses. He defeated Darko Stošic by unanimous decision, Dequan Townsend by unanimous decision, and Alonzo Menifield by unanimous decision; while losing to Aleksandar Rakic by TKO, Ryan Spann by guillotine choke submission, and Anthony Smith by triangle choke submission. Clark has been a pro since 2013 and he has three wins by TKO/KO and one by submission. He has two first round finishes.
Clark looked good in wins over Townsend and Menifield, but he took a step up in class and was dominated by Smith. I don’t know that Clark is good enough to beat top fighters, but we’ll get a better idea on Saturday.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Cutelaba 5.03 / Clark 3.33
Striking Accuracy: Cutelaba 40% / Clark 57%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Cutelaba 3.80 / Clark 2.43
Defense: Cutelaba 47% / Clark 48%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Cutelaba 3.69 / Clark 2.70
Takedown Accuracy: Cutelaba 57% / Clark 36%
Takedowns defended: Cutelaba 78% / Clark 76%
Submission average: Cutelaba 0.0 / Clark 0.1
UFC Picks
Cutelaba is slightly favored in this fight, but I think oddsmakers are overreacting a bit to his last few fights. I still think Cutelaba is a talented fighter who could move up in the rankings. Clark has done okay against average fighters, but I haven’t seen him take the next step to beat top fighters. Obviously, the question in this fight is whether Cutelaba is a top fighter. I still think Cutelaba is capable of being a top fighter but he needs to prove it. This is a good chance for him to bounce back from his last three fights and dominate a fighter in Clark who I think is just an average fighter. We get a good price because Cutelaba has struggled of late, as I think a case could be made that Cutelaba should be a 2-1 favorite. I definitely like the added value on Cutelaba and I think he wins this bout. I will lay the -150 price and take Cutelaba to get the win.
UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann Card & Odds
Light Heavyweight - Ryan Spann +135 vs. Anthony Smith-170
Light Heavyweight - Mike Rodriguez -105 vs. Tafon Nchukwi -125
Light Heavyweight - Devin Clark +115 vs. Ion Cu?elaba -145
Middleweight - Antonio Arroyo +161 vs. Joaquin Buckley -205
Lightweight - Dakota Bush -130 vs. Zhu Rong +100
Bantamweight - JP Buys +405 vs. Montel Jackson -600
Flyweight - Erin Blanchfield -325 vs. Sarah Alpar +244
Welterweight - Carlston Harris -105 vs. Impa Kasanganay-125
Women's Bantamweight - Raquel Pennington -125 vs. Pannie Kianzad -105
Bantamweight - Gustavo Lopez +100 vs. Heili Alateng -130
Lightweight - Christos Giagos +555 vs. Arman Tsarukyan -925
Bantamweight - Nate Maness +165 vs. Tony Gravely -210
Women's Strawweight - Hannah Goldy -105 vs. Emily Whitmire -125
Women's Flyweight - Ariane Lipski -120 vs. Mandy Bohm -110
Lightweight - Cameron VanCamp +228 vs. Nikolas Motta -300
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