Under 1.5 Rounds (-166)
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- Erslan has ended six of his last seven fights in the first round heading into his UFC debut.
- Cutelaba has seen four of his last five fights end before the middle of the second round.
On Saturday, UFC Fight Night will take place in Paris, in a card filled with French fighters. One of the fights that does not feature any French combatants might be the most exciting on the card, though, as Ion Cutelaba takes on Ivan Erslan. Here, we break down this bout and make our UFC betting picks for Ion Cutelaba vs Ivan Erslan in a battle between a veteran UFC fighter and someone making his debut in the promotion.
This fight will take place at Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday, September 28, 2024.
Ion Cutelaba
Ion Cutelaba goes into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event with over eight years of UFC fighting experience under his belt. He has struggled mightily of late, though, dropping four of his last five fights with three of those losses coming inside the distance. Here, Cutelaba will look to use his explosive style to get back into the win column against a UFC debutant in Ivan Erslan.
For Cutelaba to win this Ion Cutelaba vs Ivan Erslan matchup, he will need to swing for the fences. Cutelaba is not known for his ability to win by fighting defensively, making his best defense a good offense. If he can’t end this fight by the early portion of the second round, that would likely be bad news for him against a fighter who is slightly older but who has taken less damage in his career to this point.
Ivan Erslan
One of the more interesting subplots in this UFC Fight Night card is the UFC debut for Croatia’s Ivan Erslan. Erslan has a 14-3 professional record in MMA for other promotions, but has alternated wins and losses in each of his last five fights dating back to May of 2022. No matter who has won his fights recently, though, Erslan’s fights have ended quickly over the last few years.
In six of Erslan’s last seven fights, either he or his opponent earned a stoppage in the first round. That includes a run of five knockout wins in Erslan’s last seven fights, the majority of which have come in KSW. It will be interesting to see how Erslan’s explosive nature translates to UFC and whether or not he can make an immediate impact on a bigger stage than he is used to fighting on.
