A former UFC champion has backed Mauricio Ruffy to score a third-round finish over Arman Tsarukyan in their highly anticipated UFC 331 co-main event.<\/p>\n
Mauricio Ruffy is set to fight Arman in a potential No. 1 contender fight this weekend at UFC<\/a> 331. They will throw down in the five-round co-main event at UFC 331, taking place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is the classic matchup between a striker and a grappler. The anticipation for this showdown has everyone talking and making predictions. Recently, former UFC two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya shared his prediction for the UFC 331 co-main event.\u00a0<\/p>\n Israel Adesanya predicts third-round finish for Mauricio Ruffy against Arman Tsarukyan<\/p>\n Tsarukyan has arguably the best wrestling in the lightweight division, and the way he dominated his opponent using his grappling prowess is elite; that’s why he remains the favorite to get the victory at UFC 331<\/a>. However, Adesanya feels the other way.\u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking on his YouTube channel, Adesanya explained that Ruffy needs to maintain his distance and avoid getting trapped against the fence if he wants to find the finish. He feels the Brazilian needs to prevent Tsarukyan from establishing his wrestling game and predicts a third-round finish for the striker.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think if Ruffy maintains his footwork and distance and stays off the fence line, he’ll be popping Arman and he’ll catch him. Ruffy’s gonna snipe him. I’m going Ruffy third-round finish,\u201d Adesanya said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Check out Israel Adesanya\u2019s comments below:\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ruffy is riding high on confidence as he finished top lightweight like Michael Chandler<\/a> and Rafael Fiziev in his last two outings. He will try to replicate the same against Tsarukyan.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the Armenian star remains confident and has predicted a victory for himself against Ruffy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arman Tsarukyan backs himself to secure early finish against Mauricio Ruffy<\/p>\n Speaking to Ag Fight, Tsarukyan acknowledged the danger of Ruffy\u2019s striking but remained confident, predicting a victory in the second or third round.\u00a0<\/p>\n “My prediction is a finish in the second or third round,” Tsarukyan said<\/a>. “We have to be confident, because why would we be if we weren’t confident?\u201d<\/p>\n The co-main event of UFC 331 could decide the future of the lightweight division, as the winner could get a title shot against reigning champion Justin Gaethje<\/a>. However, UFC Dana White has hesitated to confirm that officially.\u00a0<\/p>\n