ММА. UFC Fight Night 202 (Vegas 49)
Arman Tsarukyan (Russia) vs Joel Alvarez (Spain)
UFC APEX (Las Vegas)
27.02.2022. 03:00
UFC Fight Night 202 (Vegas 49) will take place on February 27 in Las Vegas with one of the main card fights featuring Arman Tsarukyan and Joel Alvarez.
Claim Your Welcome Bonus!The fight will take place in the lightweight division. Tsarukyan is ranked #13 in the official UFC rankings, while Joel Alvarez is not in the top 15. The Russian is the bookmakers' favorite.
Arman Tsarukyan: promising lightweight prospect
Tsarukyan has suffered only one defeat in the UFC – from Islam Makhachev, in his debut fight in the league, in April 2019.
Since that defeat, Arman has had four convincing victories and is constantly talking about a rematch with Makhachev. At this very tournament, however, he refused to come out against him on short notice, explaining that he had to prepare accordingly for such a serious confrontation.
In his last fight, he won against Christos Giagos by TKO in the first round and didn't experience any real difficulties in this confrontation.
«I want to win this fight, then get one or two more wins, and fight for the title early next year. I thought the UFC would give me a top-10 opponent, but what happened is that my opponent is top-15, and if I beat him, I'm sure I'll be fighting one of the top ones. And in the fight with Alvarez, I'm going to dominate and choke him in the second round.»
Arman Tsarukyan
Joel Alvarez: dangerous & underrated
The Spaniard, just like Tsarukyan, made his UFC debut with a loss, but then won four straight fights, all early, three of them in the first round.
In his previous fight, Alvarez fought Thiago Moises and was the big underdog with the bookies. The experienced Brazilian looked a little more active at the beginning of the fight, but by the middle of the first round, Alvarez took the initiative and began to destroy his opponent with elbows and high kicks, finally shaking him and on the finish, the referee stopped the fight. Only three minutes had passed since the opening bell.
Tale of the tape
Judging by objective measurements, the numbers are about the same. But what catches the eye is the Spaniard's big advantage in size (height and arm reach), as well as the fact that he won all his victories early.
| Measurement | Tsarukyan | Alvarez |
| Age | 25 | 28 |
| Height (cm) | 175 | 188 |
| Record | 17-2 | 19-2 |
| Early wins | 11 | 19 |
| Early losses | 1 | 1 |
| UFC Record | 4-1 | 4-1 |
| Last fight | Sep 18, 2021 | Nov 13, 2021 |
| Winning streak | 4 | 4 |
Expert Betting Tips
It's a little surprising that the Russian fighter is the big favorite here. Alvarez is definitely no piece of cake and will have the advantage in the standup. Arman will have chances in the ground, but you can't say that the Spaniard is helpless in wrestling. This is one case where it's very difficult to predict someone's victory, but the way Joel sweeps his opponents can't be ignored.
Nevertheless, Arman's fight could be a real nightmare for Alvarez, and I want to believe it will be. He's progressing from fight to fight, and he's been preparing for Joel purposefully and has been through a full camp.
Bet365 offers odds of 1.40 on Tsarukyan’s win, while Alvarez’s victory is estimated at 3.00. Neither do they believe that the fight will last the whole distance:
Fight To Go The Distance - Yes for 2.10;
Fight To Go The Distance - No for 1.66.