Some people don’t like when I make a pick and caveat it or mention that I am not confident. But thats ridiculous, would you rather me pretend I’m 100% certain and then you feel that confidence and place a bet that loses or would you rather me be honest and potentially scare you off some shit you never should’ve bet to begin with. Like when I picked Lerryan Douglas but said no one should bet on him against Jamall Emmers. Not only are picks and bets not the same thing, not all picks are the same thing. I am saying this because I am going to pick Arman here, but I don’t think anyone should bet on him.
The obviously play here is to say “look what BSD did Ruffy, Ruffy can’t defend takedowns and freezes up” but the reality of that is he made major changes since then. He left his gym, started training with Volk in Australia and has had 2 incredible performances. It is VERY possible that training with Volk has him mentally where he needs to be and he won’t be afraid to let his hands go. Because that was the issue with the BSD fight, not that he couldn’t defend takedowns, but that he was so worried about the takedowns, he didn’t fully let go. When he did actually throw, he looked great. We’ve seen Arman rocked a bit, and its not insane to think that the much larger and longer fighter can have some success. I am stil picking Arman because yea, I do think he gets the takedowns here, but I’m not betting on him
Arman Tsarukyan
Arman Tsarukan is an incredible wrestler who has managed to piece together a very nice striking game as well. He uses nice footwork and setups for both his strikes and takedowns. He’s athletic and will mix in kicks very fluidly. He is the new generation of lightweight with very good wrestling and very good striking. He is coming off the easy win over Dan Hooker where he broke hs nose at weigh-ins and then submitted him in the second round.
Mauricio Ruffy
Mauricio Ruffy is a nasty striker with big fight ending power. He has 14 wins with 13 stoppages. He will throw heavy 1-2s and look for power. He isn’t just a traditional striker though, he will launch kicks up the middle, he will throw spinning techniques, he will even attempt scissor takedowns and carry his power to the 3rd round. We have also seen him completely frozen by takedown attempts and then useless on the ground. Since then though we watched him completely dismantle Rafael Fiziev and then Michael Chandler for back to back KO wins
