The MMA Daily

We have a pivotal fight in the Lightweight division, as Arman “Ahalkalakets” Tsarukyan takes on Joel “El Fenomeno” Alvarez. Since falling short in his UFC debut against Islam Makhachev, Tsarukyan has been on a tear. A winner of four consecutive fights, Tsarukyan finds himself inside the top fifteen of a stacked Lightweight division. At 25 years of age and coming off his first stoppage victory in the UFC, Tsarukyan is evolving into a future contender. Meanwhile, much like Tsarukyan, Alvarez lost his debut and has won four in a row. However, Alvarez has won all four of those fights inside the distance. In fact, all nineteen of his victories have come via stoppage.

As for a prediction, I have Alvarez winning. Despite being a moderate underdog in this fight, Alvarez is stylistically a nightmare matchup for anyone. With ridiculous size for the Lightweight division to go along with evolving striking and perhaps one of the most dangerous ground games in the UFC, Alvarez is undoubtedly a future contender. While Tsarukyan is talented in his own right, and is going to be a staple in the division, this feels like a tougher fight for him than the oddsmaker’s are making it seem. Tsarukyan is well rounded, but prefers to take his opponents down and control them. An area where he will need to avoid, unless he dares flirt with Alvarez’s ground game. One in which has claimed sixteen victims via submission. On the feet, Alvarez is a better boxer, with excellent length, power and output. The one concern for Alvarez may be defensively, as he hasn’t been the most sound in that area. However, Tsarukyan isn’t that big of a threat on the feet, lacking legitimate knockout power. In fact, in nineteen victories, Tsarukyan has only won six via knockout. So with all that said, I predict that Alvarez wins via submission.