Best Bets For UFC 284

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is staging UFC 284 in Perth, Australia, this weekend. UFC 284 UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s title fight against Alexander Volkanovski headlines the 13-card fight. This is the promotion’s 16th trip to Australia, although the first since UFC 243 in Melbourne in October 2019.

UFC 284 officially takes place on February 12 at RAC Arena. Since Australia is several hours ahead, the early preliminaries get underway Saturday night at 6 p.m. (ET) on ESPN+. The preliminaries are at 8 p.m. (ET) on ESPN/ESPN+, and the main card is on pay-per-view at 10 p.m.

Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski, Lightweight Title Fight

The Makhachev-Volkanovski lightweight title fight is very intriguing and should be spectacular. puncher The bout features different fighting styles, with Volkansovski being the better and Makhachev the better wrestler.

Makhachev (23-1) enters the octagon on an 11-fight win streak and is 12-1 with the UFC. He earned the lightweight title with a submission of Charles Oliveira in the second round of their Oct. 22 fight, which earned him the performance of the night.

The 31-year-old Russian southpaw has recorded nine submissions and knockouts in his UFC bouts. Each of Makhachev’s last five fights ended prior to the final bell. He spends an average of 9:06 minutes in the octagon per fight.

Vokanovski, the reigning featherweight belt holder, moves up in class to face Makhachev. Vokanovski (25-1) is 12-0 in the UFC, which includes four straight featherweight title defenses. The 34-year-old Australian is rated the top “Pound for Pound” fighter, while Makhachev is No. 2 in the category.

Volkanovski has posted just four knockout wins during his UFC tenure and one in five title fights. His average fight time is 16:05.

While I don’t expect this fight to go the distance, ending with either Makhachev earning a submission victory or Volkanovski picking a TKO/KO win, I would be surprised if it is over early. Makhachev is a very good defensive fighter, and Volkanovski is pretty small in stature, so he will have either “get lucky” or continually beat Makhachev to win.

Best Bet: Over 2.5 Rounds (-165)
Fight does not go the distance (-165)

Parker Porter vs. Justin Tafa, Heavyweight

This Porter-Tafa heavyweight match could be a decent battle despite neither competitor being a great fighter. Both fighters love to get their licks in while standing.

I am going with Porter (13-7, 3-2 UFC) to pick up the win over Tafa (5-3, 2-3 UFC) as the 37-year-old is more experienced, and he has plenty of value at +110 odds. Parker also is the better grappler if he decides to use the technique.

Prediction/Best Bet: Parker Porter (+110) to win.
Over 1.5 Rounds (-175)

No. 12 Jim Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield, Heavyweight

Prediction: Jim Crute (-190) to win.
Under 1.5 Rounds (-175)
Other Best Bets
3-leg parlay (+148): Tyson Pedro (-225) to win over Modestas Bukauskas; Kleydson Rodrigues (-320) to win over Shannon Ross; Loma Lookboonmee (-315) over Elise Reed

Melsik Baghdasaryan (-110) to win over Josh Culibao

Shane Young (-140) to win over Blake Bilder