UFC Vegas 66: Five Things We Learned

UFC Vegas 66: Five Things We Learned

The UFC has closed out its 2022 schedule with UFC Vegas 66. Overall, the card was solid and put a wrap to a great year of fights. The main event was a closely contested bout between Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland. Outside of that, a handful of fighters put on impressive performances that showed some positive traits, including Arman Tsarukyan, Alex Caceres, Drew Dober and Manel Kape.

Here are five things we learned at UFC Vegas 66.

1. Cannonier stays in the top five

In the main event of UFC Vegas 66, Cannonier slightly edged out Strickland over five rounds to keep his spot in the top five.

Coming into the bout, Cannonier was the No. 3 middleweight while Strickland sat in seventh. This fight was as close as it gets. Cannonier landed the more powerful shots and landed at all three levels while Strickland landed more jabs and straights.

This fight was tough to score as you have to weigh the damage of Cannonier’s strikes compared to Strickland landing more volume. It is not an easy job. In all honesty, you could score this for either fighter and justify it.

With that being said, the judges scored the fight in favor of Cannonier, and he got his hand raised. This win will keep Cannonier inside of the middleweight top five. This win will put him in a position to fight another top-five middleweight and potentially work his way back into title contention. This will not be easy as he will have to get one or two more elite wins. Thankfully, he got over the first hurdle at UFC Vegas 66.

2. Tsarukyan proves he is elite

Tsarukyan had a lot on the line at UFC Vegas 66. In his last bout, he dropped a close decision against Mateusz Gamrot. He badly needed a win to prevent dropping two fights in a row. That was easier said than done as he was booked to face Damir Ismagulov who was looking for his 20th consecutive win.

In the bout, Tsarukyan put on a wrestling masterclass to win a decision. For all three rounds, he wrestled at an incredibly high pace and controlled the fight. Ismagulov is an outstanding wrestler, but Tsarukysn proved that he is one of the best wrestlers in the lightweight division. That is saying a lot considering the number of great wrestlers in the division.

Still, Tsarukyan does have some work to do. He could improve his standup and may want to improve his cardio before potential five-round fights in the future. Nonetheless, Tsarukyan looked great at UFC Vegas 66 and proved to be among the division’s elite.

3. Albazi is improving his standup

Albazi is a tremendous wrestler, but at UFC Vegas 66 he showed he showed strides in his striking.

Albazi fought UFC debutant Alessandro Costa and the pair spent a lot of time trading on the feet. In the second round, Albazi landed a jab followed by a powerful straight that landed him a knockdown. In the third round, he landed a clean uppercut that finished the fight.

Albazi will never be known for his striking which is natural as wrestling is his go-to skill. However, he clearly can hang with fighters on the feet. First off, he has solid power for the flyweight division. His combinations are not bad either.

Now, I am not saying that Albazi can strike with the elite fighters in the division, but he is far more competent than he has previously shown.

4. Caceres displays his KO power

Caceres landed an incredible head kick knockout against Julian Erosa at UFC Vegas 66. Caceres threw an overhand left followed by a left head kick that landed flush and put Erosa out cold. This was a beautiful combination as the left hand disguised the left kick that was following it.

Caceres’ last UFC knockout came all the way back in 2017 when he got a doctor stoppage win against Rolando Dy. This win over Erosa marks Caceres’s second UFC knockout victory in his 26 fights in the promotion. That is quite a wild statistic considering that Caceres has solid striking.

Only time will tell if Caceres can continue to land knockout blows, though. It will certainly be more challenging as he moves up in the featherweight division.

5. Dober solves the Bobby Green puzzle

Dober got a massive victory at UFC Vegas 66, knocking out Green in the second round.

Prior to this fight in our UFC Vegas 66 preview, I said this clash had the potential to be the fight and the night and it delivered. Dober and Green spent a lot of time exchanging heavy strikes before Dober eventually landed a massive left hook that finished the fight.

Dober was able to solve the Green puzzle which is something few fighters can do. Green has a unique style where he utilizes speed and head movement to out landed his opponent without being hit. In most cases, opponents look to take Green down to work around his slick striking, not Dober though.

Instead, Dober looked to get in elongated exchanges and sit down on power strikes. This did cause Dober to eat a lot of punches, but ultimately that strategy paid off as he landed a massive left hook that ended the fight.

Not many fighters could execute that type of game plan against Green. Like Dober said in his octagon interview, he comes into every fight with a chin and a left hook. He is not kidding as he has one of the best chins in the sport and his left hand can finish fights with ease. He needed both of those tools to get the job done.

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