UFC on ESPN 23 tournament bout
On the night of Saturday to Sunday, May 2, the UFC will return to Las Vegas (Nevada, USA) to once again hold their tournament without spectators at the UFC Apex. In the main event of the UFC on ESPN 23 (or UFC Vegas 25) tournament, fans are expected to fight top light heavyweights. The fight will be broadcast live on Setanta Sports. Approximate start of the battle at 07:00 Kyiv time.
The third most important couple of the evening will also be light heavyweights: Ion Cutselaba and Dustin Jacobi.
Kutselaba has lost three of his last four appearances by stoppage. He spent his last two fights against Magomed Ankalaev. In February 2020, Ion lost by a controversial referee stoppage to the Russian by technical knockout in 38 seconds. But in an immediate rematch in October, the Moldovan fighter was cleanly knocked out by Ankalaev at the end of the first round.
Jacobi until recently performed unsuccessfully in top promotions. Until 2020, his combined record in the UFC, Bellator and WSOF was 0-5, but the victory at Dana White’s Contender Series in August last year allowed him to enter the UFC for the second time, 9 years after being fired. In October, Jacobi scored his first UFC win by knocking out Justin Ledet, and in February, Dustin won a unanimous decision over Maxim Grishin.
Prediction for the fight
Kutselaba, despite a good grappler base, strives to fight in a stand-up position and can send opponents to knockouts. Jacoby has a kickboxing career behind him, so it’s no wonder he’s good on his feet.
We believe that Jacobi will not allow Cutelaba to take advantage of his tangible advantage on the ground, and will be able to withstand the “bombs” of the Moldavian in order to impose his game on the opponent. Kutselaba is not the most technical striker and it is a doable task for Jacobi to beat him in the standing position. But still, you can’t discount Kutselaba, who is especially dangerous with his punches at the start of the fight.
Jacobi win on points
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