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Israel Adesanya spent some time with Mauricio Ruffy at the Freestyle MMA Performance Centre, and he thinks the Brazilian knockout artist will pull off a big upset on Saturday.

Ruffy is set to collide with Arman Tsarukyan in the biggest bout of his pro MMA career to date. If Ruffy can stun “Batman,” he might catapult himself to the UFC lightweight title picture. Tsarukyan has long been viewed as the true No. 1 contender at 155 pounds, and Ruffy can turn the division on its head with a victory at UFC 331.

Speaking about the fight on his YouTube channel, Adesanya said he can see Ruffy hitting Tsarukyan on the sweet spot to shake things up at lightweight (via MMAJunkie).

“In this fight, I think Ruffy will be where he was with Fiziev, which was on the backfoot,” Adesanya said. “Arman will be putting on the pressure just trying to force him to the cage and go for a takedown. Ruffy’s footwork must be elite in this fight. You can’t get stuck on the cage with Arman because once he gets to a leg or he gets his arms on your waist and he can just drop down, it’s almost a guarantee finish. Ruffy, he knows what to do. I think he can catch Arman.”

Adesanya admits that Tsarukyan’s grappling will be a stern test, but he’s going with Ruffy to hand “Batman” his first stoppage loss since 2015.

“It’s five rounds. … In the beginning, if Arman can get a hold of him like (Benoit Saint Denis) did, it will be a problem because he can try and sap his energy. But then again, he can recover. But I think if Ruffy just maintains his distance, footwork and stays off the fence line, he’ll be popping Arman and one of them will catch him. If not, when Arman gets tired from trying to take him down later on, Ruffy’s going to snipe him. I’m going Ruffy third-round finish.”

Both Ruffy and Tsarukyan tipped the scales for Friday’s weigh-ins. Ruffy was the first fighter to clock in at 155 pounds. Tsarukyan was one pound heavier, but he also made weight for the high-stakes clash.

Do you think Mauricio Ruffy scores a big upset win at UFC 331 on Saturday, or do you see Arman Tsarukyan handling business on fight night? Join in on the conversation in the comments below, and be sure to stick with us this weekend for live coverage.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM