The MMA Vivisection – UFC Vegas 66: Cannonier vs. Strickland picks, odds, & analysis

The final UFC fight card of the year is shaping up to be a really fun one. The main event features a showdown between…

By: Zane Simon | 10 months ago
The MMA Vivisection – UFC Vegas 66: Cannonier vs. Strickland picks, odds, & analysis
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The final UFC fight card of the year is shaping up to be a really fun one. The main event features a showdown between top-ranked middleweights Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland, with a fantastic lightweight bout between Arman Tsarukyan and Damir Ismagulov in the co-main. Drew Dober vs. Bobby Green & Alex Caceres vs. Julian Erosa help round out a main card that should be all action all the way through.

For fans interested in diving deeper into the undercard, check out the Prelims Vivi below.

June M. Williams

The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by ‘The Fine Art of Violence’, a collection of art and essays recapping the year in MMA by Chris Rini, featuring the most talented artists and writers in Mixed Martial Arts. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats at chrisrini.com.

Here’s a look at the UFC Vegas 66 fight card as it stood at the time of recording:

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | 7pm/4pm ET&PT
Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland — At 3:40, Odds 22:11, Picks, Zane: Cannonier, Connor: Strickland
Arman Tsarukyan vs. Damir Ismagulov — At 22:27, Odds 37:41, Picks, Both: Ismagulov
Amir Albazi vs. Alessandro Costa At 39:21, Odds 50:04, Picks, Both: Albazi
Alex Caceres vs. Julian Erosa — At 50:38, Odds 1:01:06, Picks, Both: Erosa
Drew Dober vs. Bobby Green — At 1:03:13, Odds 1:13:33, Picks, Both: Dober
Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Cody Brundage At 1:13:46, Odds 1:19:54, Picks, Both: Oleksiejczuk

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 4pm/1pm ET&PT
Cheyanne Vlismas vs. Cory McKenna At 0:49, Odds 13:58, Picks, Both: Vlismas
Jake Matthews vs. Matthew Semelsberger At 14:38, Odds 26:54, Picks, Both: Matthews
Julian Marquez vs. Deron Winn At 27:21, Odds 39:59, Picks, Both: Marquez
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov At 40:15, Odds 50:48, Picks, Zane: Nurmagomedov, Connor: Kakhramonov
Rafa Garcia vs. Hayisaer Maheshate At 51:05, Odds 1:01:04, Picks, Zane: Maheshate, Connor: Garcia
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Bryan Battle At 1:01:25, Odds 1:06:53, Picks, Both: Fakhretdinov
Manel Kape vs. David Dvořák — At 1:08:07, Odds 1:15:25, Picks, Both: Kape
Sergey Morozov vs. Journey Newson At 1:15:40, Odds 1:20:14, Picks, Both: Morozov


For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisection shows for UFC Fight Island 1: ‘Kattar vs. Ige’. So far, here are the overall standings:

  • For our last event, UFC 282 ‘Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev’: Zane picked 8/10 for 80% and Connor picked 7/10 for 70%. (They skipped picking the Shahbazyan-Lungiambula bout, da Silva-Salvador was cancelled, as well as OSP-Trócoli, and the main event was a Split Draw – leaving the title vacant – which is why the stats only include 10 bouts for UFC 282.)
  • Overall stats from UFC Fight Island 1 in July, 2020, through UFC 282 in Dec, 2022: Zane is now at 792/1229 for 64.45% and Connor is now at 747/1229 for 60.78%
  • Jan-Present 2022: Zane is at 322/492 for 65.45% and Connor is at 305/492 for 62.00%
  • Jan-Dec 2021: Zane went 305/493 for 65% and Connor went 285/493 for 59%
  • July-Dec 2020: Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%
    Reference: Vivi Picks Stats_12.15.22.pdf

If you enjoy our variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels. Check out the new MMA Vivi Facebook Page, where the shows always drop an hour earlier than they do anywhere else on the network, be sure to “Like”, Follow, Share — At: https://www.facebook.com/TheMMAVivi.



UFC Vegas 66 Fight Night: ‘Cannonier vs. Strickland’ | LAST UFC EVENT OF 2022

WATCH LIVE ON ESPN+ — UFC Vegas 66 Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland * Tsarukyan vs. Ismagulov!

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2022 — DON’T MISS THE LAST UFC EVENT OF THE YEAR! Stream all the fights broadcast LIVE from the #UFCAPEX Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, RIGHT HERE – catch every single second of face-punching, bloody elbow action!

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About the author
Zane Simon
Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.

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