UFC Vegas 66: Arman Tsarukyan vs. Damir Ismagulov Breakdown

‘Twas the week before the night before Christmas, and all through the UFC Apex, not a creature was stirring, except the fighters booked to compete on the promotion’s final card of the year. UFC Vegas 66 takes place this Saturday night.

While college football fans watch the early bowl games and NFL fans watch a Saturday tripleheader, fans of MMA will be treated to an early holiday present, beginning with the UFC Vegas 66 co-main event.

Live coverage of Saturday’s card begins with the prelims at 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT on ESPN+. Main card action immediately follows at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT from the Apex facility in Las Vegas. All told, barring any cancellations between now and then, UFC Vegas 66 features 14 fights to close out the year in the promotion.

Lightweight Showcase in UFC Vegas 66 Co-Main Event

The UFC Vegas 66 co-main event will be a top-12 contest at 155 lbs. No. 9 contender Arman Tsarukyan (18-3 MMA, 5-2 MMA) looks to close out 2022 with a victory against No. 12 contender (and 25-fight veteran) Damir Ismagulov (24-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC).

With this fight being a nontitle attraction at lightweight, the co-main event is slated to be an advertised maximum of three rounds at five minutes per round.

UFC Vegas 66 Co-Main Event Fighter Comparison and Betting Odds

Heading into the UFC Vegas 66 co-main event on Saturday night, Damir Ismagulov is the taller competitor at 5-foot-10, compared to the 5-foot-7 frame of Arman Tsarukyan. Additionally, Ismagulov owns both a 1 1/2-inch reach (74 inches even to 72 1/2 inches) advantage and a half-inch leg reach (40 inches even to 39 1/2 inches) advantage over Tsarukyan.

As it stands on Wednesday afternoon, the oddsmakers have Tsarukyan as a -190 favorite, with Ismagulov installed as a +160 underdog. If you plan on betting on this or any other fight happening this weekend, please wager responsibly.

Arman Tsarukyan Looks to Bounce Back Saturday Night

Arman Tsarukyan enters the UFC Vegas 66 co-main event on Saturday having gone 4-1 in his last five UFC appearances. Last time out, he saw a four-fight winning streak snapped against Mateusz Gamrot (21-2, 1 NC MMA, 4-2 UFC) during the main event of UFC Vegas 57 on June 25 by way of unanimous decision after five rounds.

During a recent interview with The Schmo, Tsarukyan mentioned that he has no interest in going to a decision this time around.

“I’m ready to fight 15 minutes,” Tsarukyan said. “This time, I don’t want to give it to the judges to decide who’s going to be the winner. I want to finish this guy; I want to knock him out or choke him. It doesn’t matter. Stop him.”

Tsarukyan also wants to eye the $50,000 (USD) Performance of the Night bonus with a victory here.

“First of all, I want to win this fight, no matter how,” he said. “For sure, 50K, it gives me a good mood.”

Given that Arman Tsarukyan is coming off of a loss by decision last time out, it stands to reason that he’ll be fighting angrily on Saturday night in the UFC Vegas 66 co-main event. His opponent, however, is on a winning streak of his own going into action this weekend.

Damir Ismagulov Riding 19-Fight Winning Streak Into UFC Vegas 66 Co-Main Event

In the other corner, Damir Ismagulov has posted a record of 5-0 since joining the UFC’s active roster in December 2018. All five of his UFC victories have come by way of decision, including his latest win (unanimous decision) against Guram Kutateladze (12-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on June 18 during UFC Austin.

Across all promotions, Ismagulov is currently on a 19-fight winning streak heading into the UFC Vegas 66 co-main event on Saturday night. He hasn’t exited an MMA cage as the loser since Sept. 20, 2015, when he competed in M-1 Global.

That night, he sustained his lone defeat so far in his professional career by unanimous decision in the featured prelim against Ramazan Esenbaev (10-3-1 MMA) during M-1 Challenge.

Ismagulov met with the press earlier Wednesday, where he said that his six-month hiatus was caused by the lack of a suitable adversary in the cage.

“To be honest, I’d like to fight much more often,” Ismagulov said through his translator. “It just happened that there was no opponent for me. I’m very much sure in my skills, I’m sure in what I can do in the Octagon and I’d love to fight more often, but there was just no opponent. I’ve actually called a few opponents out and nobody picked up my call-out and the organization wouldn’t give me an opponent.”

Now that Ismagulov has found an opponent for the UFC Vegas 66 co-main event, can he run his winning streak to 20 matches in a row? Tune in and find out.

Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction

Stylistically, the UFC Vegas 66 main event looks to favor Arman Tsarukyan, a Master of Sport in both MMA and Freestyle Wrestling, compared to Damir Ismagulov’s status as a Master of Sport in Army Hand-to-Hand Combat.

Arman Tsarukyan Is Brutal With Punches

One aspect of Arman Tsarukyan’s fight game that’s become apparent on video is his ability to punch his way to a knockout. Joel Alvarez found this out the hard way on Feb. 25.

During the second round of a scheduled three, after Tsarukyan bloodied Alvarez significantly in the first round, he immediately landed a takedown. It was only a matter of time before the fight ended.

He landed repeated ground and pound shots to bloody Alvarez a second time from the back mount. Even though Alvarez tried to rise to his feet, Tsarukyan made sure he stayed down, continuing to land punches in bunches until referee Chris Tognoni called a stop to the contest.

Look for Tsarukyan to land copious shots in an effort to open up a serious cut. If he’s able to bloody Damir Ismagulov, the UFC Vegas 66 co-main event will be a wrap.

Watch For Damir Ismagulov’s Submissions

Although it hasn’t happened often, Damir Ismagulov has been known to secure the victory by submission, as he did in 2018 against Vyascheslav Ten.

During the first round of the featured prelim, Ismagulov scored with a low kick before going to the clinch. From there, Ismagulov was able to score ground and pound shots upon reversing a takedown, softening Ten up with punches from the back mount before finally clasping his hands under Ten’s neck to lock in a rear-naked choke halfway through the period.

If Damir Ismagulov is able to take Arman Tsarukyan down even once, watch for him to land ground and pound. It could be the opening he needs to finish the fight by submission.

Final Thoughts

This is an interesting fight on paper. Arman Tsarukyan is looking to get back in the win column, while Damir Ismagulov looks for his 20th straight victory. Although this isn’t at the top of the billing, the UFC Vegas 66 co-main event has Fight of the Night potential written all over it.

Prediction: Damir Ismagulov by Unanimous Decision.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images