Juan Archuleta vs Soo Chul Kim Betting Analysis and Prediction

At the highly anticipated RIZN vs. Bellator event this weekend to end 2022. One of the most exciting fights will be a bantamweight bout between Bellator veteran Juan Archuleta (26-4) and RIZN newcomer Soo Chul Kim (18-6). 

Read along for some great insight on this matchup coming this weekend.  

Last Fight Record

Archuleta is coming off a big bounce-back victory over Enrique Barzola in October via unanimous decision.

Chul Kim won in his RIZN debut via unanimous decision over Hiromasa Ougikubo in September. 

Matchup Information

• Date: Saturday 31st December 2022.
• Time: 8 p.m. ET
• Location: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.
• Streaming: Paramount +

Archuleta vs. Chul Kim Betting Analysis

Juan Archuleta

Archuleta is a 35-year-old Bellator MMA veteran who has been in the cage with the best featherweights the promotion offers over his 11 fights. His only losses have come to Patricio Pitbull, Sergio Pettis, and Raufeon Stots: most recent champions in Bellator. 

His biggest win was over Patchy Mix in 2020. Over Archuleta’s 30-fight career, he has 11 wins by TKO/KO and one submission win to add. Along with that, he has only been finished twice in those 30 fights. This is a veteran with a lot of durability, and he knows the tricks of the trade to get wins at the highest level. 

Archuleta is the #3 ranked Bellator bantamweight currently and has held the bantamweight world title for Bellator in the past. Besides, he has also been challenged for the featherweight championship in the promotion. He has an incredible collection of championship titles in 5 different fight promotions over his career. Certainly this chance to bring his talents to Japan and RIZN will be another opportunity to perform in front of a new crowd.

Soo Chul Kim

There isn’t much information about a guy like Soo Chul Kim available. He has had 18 wins in his professional MMA career, including 6 TKO/KO and five submissions. Soo Chul Kim has fought in South Korea for most of his life and in big promotions like the ONE Championship. 

He became a breakout star in Asia back in 2012, at the age of 21, being crowned the inaugural ONE Championship bantamweight champion of the world. Consequently Chul Kim then retired from the sport abruptly in 2017 but now enjoys a comeback to the sport he loves. 

Chul Kim will look to use his legendary right hand against Archuleta and the wrestling attack that will be coming his way. This is going to be a great matchup of styles in front of the packed Japanese crowd. 

Updates

Chul Kim promises to “put on a show” at RIZN 40 on New Years’ Eve. 

Juan Archuleta vs. Soo Chul Kim Betting Preview

Bellator odds are tough to find for this collaborative event, with RIZN coming this weekend. However, not many major sportsbooks have put out betting lines for this fight, and it seems like it is tough to find this fight week so far. 

Juan Archuleta is going to be a slight -150 betting favorite over the +160 Soo Chul Kim. This is the first time Archuleta has been the betting favorite in his last four fights. Chul Kim was the +130 underdog in his RIZN debut this year and came out victorious in that bout. 

The Archuleta vs. Chul Kim betting preview wouldn’t be finished without bringing up the styles of the two fighters. Archuleta is very agile and brings a very strong wrestling attack to this fight. He likes to take his opponents down and control them from a dominant position. 

Chul Kim will come into this fight with the same mindset as he always had; to win the fight with his iron will. He takes pride in his heart and determination to win fights. He has a very sharp right hand and always looks to land flush on his opponents’ chins. This has all the makings to be a Saturday fan-favorite fight of the night. 

Juan Archuleta vs. Soo Chul Kim Betting Prediction

After breaking down this fight with all the information available, we know this is going to be a very exciting and close MMA bout. 

The final Archuleta vs. Chul Kim betting prediction is Chul Kim to get the job done on Saturday night. This is such a close fight that you can’t predict what will happen, but we have a great pick in Chul Kim available. 

Accordingly, Chul Kim is going to be the underdog at sportsbooks and will have more value than the former Bellator champion. If you need to make a play on this one, you should back Chul Kim and his iron will. 

Chul Kim will need to be technical with his wrestling defense, but he has a knack for landing that right hand cleanly and often. His team will be working very hard in the leadup to this bout to find holes in Archuleta’s game, and they do such a great job at implementing a game plan in Chul Kim’s fights. 

This is going to be the fight of the night, and Chul Kim seems to always win those kinds of fights.

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