Ion Kutselaba - Navajo Stirling: betting tip (cf 1.98) and bets on the fight

Current form

Ion Kutselaba has been trying to reassemble himself in the light heavyweight division for the last two years. And, admittedly, he does it quite confidently. First, there was a victory by decision of the judges over debutant Ivan Erslan, who then looked like a dangerous knockout and threatened to arrange a lightning—fast ending. But Kutselaba carefully dismantled his opponent and brought the matter to the judges' notes. Then there is a more vivid episode. A painful first-round victory over Ibo Aslan, a fighter who had previously looked very convincing and even dangerous. It would seem that the check was serious, but the Moldovan athlete found the moment and closed the fight ahead of schedule.

There was also a controversial point — the defeat by a split decision from Modestas Bukauskas. Many still consider that verdict to be at least debatable, or even frankly unfair. But the fact remains that there is a defeat in the statistics. In the last match, Kutselaba again recalled his main weapon — fighting and tenacity in the stalls. He forced the former promising fighter Umar Si to capitulate, making the victory a painful move. Moreover, he did it against an opponent with an impressive arm swing — and this is important, because such dimensions usually create problems in the rack. But Kutselaba found the key.

His base is a classical martial arts school: Greco-Roman wrestling, sambo, judo. He became a national champion in both disciplines, and in 2012 he won the European Combat Sambo Championship. He has been in MMA since 2012, and during this time he has compiled an impressive record: 20 wins (13 by knockout, three by decision, four by submission) and 11 defeats. His style is pressure, power struggle and constant imposition of pace. Sometimes it turns into chaos, but it is in this chaos that he is dangerous.

Current form

Navajo Stirling approaches this fight with a perfect UFC record of four wins and zero losses. But if you dig deeper, the picture is not so smooth anymore. Three of these victories were obtained by judges' decisions and looked, to put it mildly, without much shine. But in the last fight, he finally added brightness — he defeated Bruno Lopez by technical knockout. Stirling is a different type of fighter. He is not one of those who goes to cut without looking back.

Rather, on the contrary, he is careful, prudent, even cautious. Sometimes he clearly lacks aggression, but it is this discipline that can be a key factor in a fight against Kutselaba. It's about distance. The New Zealander knows how to work from afar and keep his opponent out of close combat. And against Cucelaba, this is critically important: if a Moldovan fighter shortens the distance, a completely different story begins — pressure, clinch, fight at the net and attempts to transfer to the stalls.

Let's add Stirling's base here — he is a former kickboxer, King in the Ring champion, World Kickboxing Federation, WBC MuayThai New Zealand gold medalist. In MMA, he also managed to become the champion of the Hex Fight Series and the Shuriken Fight Series. He is 28 years old, and he has seven wins (four by knockout, three by decision) and seven defeats. He looks like a fighter who has not yet reached his full potential, but already knows how to control fights and does not allow rivals to impose their scenario.