Lightweights
#14 LW | Arman Tsarukyan (16-2, 3-1 UFC) vs. NR | Christos Giagos (19-8, 5-4 UFC)ODDS: Tsarukyan (-750), Giagos (+525)
The 24-year-old Tsarukyan might be the best young prospect in the UFC. The Armenian-Russian worked his way through strong opposition before making it to the Octagon, and the UFC immediately marked him as someone to watch, giving him a co-main event slot opposite Islam Makhachev in his Octagon debut. Tsarukyan put together a strong effort in a loss, and it has been off to the races since. His fights are not always the prettiest, but he has continued to take care of some solid competition without much issue, focused mostly around his wrestling. There are some warts to his game—despite his improved striking against Davi Ramos in 2020, it remains a work in progress, and he has not shown much in the way of finishing ability—but Tsarukyan’s ceiling is one of the highest in the sport. He gets a lateral move here in what should be a fun fight against Giagos, who has done well to earn an opportunity at unseating such a highly regarded prospect.
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This is Giagos’ second stint with the UFC, and both his release and re-signing were a bit odd, if only because he has been much the same fighter for the last few years. Giagos is a solid athlete who moves forward and does a little bit of everything, which means that he can effectively exploit his opponent’s weaknesses while also getting taken apart by specialists. At the UFC level, that has meant his fights have mostly hinged on his ability to outwrestle his opponents, though he also showed off some slick grappling with a submission of Sean Soriano in May. Giagos should make this competitive. Tsarukyan is not the most controlling wrestler and Giagos is a solid scrambler, but the blue-chip prospect should be able to score takedowns at will and stay out of trouble on the feet. The pick is Tsarukyan via decision.
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