Albert Duraev vs Junyong Park 7/11/2023 Predictions, Free Picks and Odds
Albert Duraev vs. Jun Yong Park’s middleweight fight will serve as the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 224, an event taking place at UFC Apex in Vegas on July 15.
Albert “Machette” Duraev is a 34-year-old Chechen fighter who’s 16-4 overall, with most of his losses happening in his professional career as an MMA fighter. He did suffer a loss to Joaquin Buckley in 2022, but it happened by TKO (doctor stoppage).
The incident explains why he was allowed to showcase his talents in the UFC Fight Night 224 co-main event against Jun Yong Park, a.k.a. “The Iron Turtle,” who’s had a similar MMA journey. The Korean fighter is 16-5 overall, and like Duraev, he too suffered most of his losses in the early days of his career; three of his five losses happened within the first three years of his career.
Martial Mastery: Albert Duraev, the Ultimate Fusion of Sambo Expertise and Formidable Boxing Prowess
Albert Duraev has a background in combat sambo, which explains why nine of his 16 career wins happened by submission. He’s also a decent boxer, although he’s been using those skills almost exclusively for defense. The evidence of this is that he’s been landing 2.94 significant strikes per minute since joining the UFC while absorbing 2.53.
Duraev’s most potent weapon is takedowns. He is capable of taking down almost any opponent, and he’s also decent when it comes to defending against takedowns. In every single one of his four UFC/Dana White’s Contender Series fights, we saw him land at least one takedown. The weapon is impressive, as all his opponents were fighters with decent TD defending skills: Chidi Njokuani, Joaquin Buckley, Roman Kopylov, and even Caio Bittencourt.
Duraev is scheduled to be Park’s second opponent in 2023. The first, Denis Tiuliulin, quickly tapped out to Park earlier this year at UFC Vegas 68. He is 6-2 in the UFC, with three three-fight winning streaks. A win over Duraev would extend his win streak to the longest it has ever been.
Albert Duraev vs Junyong Park 7/11/2023 Predictions, Free Picks and Odds
Jun Yong Park‘s Relentless Pursuit of Middleweight Greatness, Aiming to Shatter the Top 15 Barrier
“The Iron Turtle” is 16-5 overall, with a 6-2 record since joining the UFC in 2019. He won his two previous fights by submission, and if he continues to finish his opponents, we might see him get ranked. But can he beat Duraev? That’s the big question.
He’s got a similar set of skills to his UFC Fight Night 224 opponent. He’s excellent wrestling-wise, with decent boxing skills. The Korean lands many strikes, but he also gets hit many times. As with Duraev, he, too, excels when it comes to takedowns. Parklands averages 2.33 TDs per fight, while his takedown defense is 70%.
Park defeated Tiuliulin via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:05 of Round 1 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. Tiuliulin landed 100% of the significant strikes he attempted at a distance, and Park landed 60% at a distance. Park landed 65% of his considerable strikes attempted, connecting on 25 of 38. He landed 20 of 33 significant strikes to the head. Tiuliulin ended up landing eight of the 22 significant strikes in that battle. Regarding accuracy for the significant strikes, he landed 4 of 16 directed at the head. Regarding the total strikes attempted in that contest, Tiuliulin landed 8 of 22, and Park threw 38 of the 52 strikes he threw.
It was Park’s best performance to date under the UFC banner. Facing an opponent that has struggled with his submission defense, Park was able to snatch a takedown about a minute into the fight before going to work on the mat. He fired off some ground-and-pound, at which point Tiuliulin gave up his back, giving Park the opening to clamp on the rear-naked choke. The soon-to-be 32-year-old has yet to face top-flight competition late, but it’s difficult to argue with the results. Park won three straight and six of seven dating back to December 2019.
Albert Duraev vs. Jun Yong Park These two are very similar in their skill set and record, fighting style, experience, and even build. It’s a coin toss in this fight, but if we had to pick one, we’d go with Duraev.
Prediction: Albert Duraev to win
Location: UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: Saturday, July 15, 2023
Main Card: 10:00 PM ET
Prelims: 6:00 PM ET
Watch on: ESPN and ESPN+
