UFC 284 | Main Card Preview
Saturday, February 11th (10:00 PM EST Main Card, 8:00 PM EST Prelims, 6:00 PM EST Early Prelims)
Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski
WATCH - You can win every UFC fight, dominate every title defense, and nickname yourself “The Great”, but what does it all mean when no one knows who you are? I’m not talking about the hardcores, who watch the prelims on every fight night, or even the semi-casuals who catch every other pay per view. I’m talking about the true casuals, the people who watch one or two fights per year. Those are the people that elevate a fighter from moderate success to riches and fame beyond even most mainstream sports athletes. It’s one thing to be the pound-for-pound king when beating the same guy has contributed to 3 out of your 5 title fights, but can Alexander Volkanovski, an already undersized featherweight champion, go up a weight class and take down the scariest champion in the UFC and direct pupil of the greatest lightweight of all time? This will be the first time in UFC history that the best 2 champions throughout all the divisions directly fought each other. And regardless of how many tune in, the implications of this fight will define not only their careers, but the entire landscape of the MMA world for years to come! This is the first truly pound-for-pound super-match since the UFC tournaments in the 1990s!
Yair Rodriguez vs. Josh Emmett
WATCH - This fight is perfectly placed directly before Volkanovski because of its featherweight title implications. If Volkanovski wins and stays in lightweight, than the winner of this fight likely fights the winner of Holloway vs Allen (April 15) for the vacant belt. If Volkanovski loses and goes back down to featherweight, then the winner is likely the next title contender unless Allen can get past Holloway and is willing to have a quick turnaround before fighting Volkanovski. Regardless of what happens later, these guys are both known for putting on some absolute bangers against their fellow top contenders!
FGTDalgo Bet - Fight Does Not Go The Distance 1u @ +110 (better than -151.1)
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Randy Brown
WATCH - Boom! Boom! Boom! It might have been missed by many because it was overshadowed by the 3 straight KO wins in 2022 by Serghei “White Ngannou” Pavlovich, but Maddalena was also a sight to behold in 2022 with 3 straight 1st round TKOs of his own. Brown is consistently flirting with the top 15 of welterweight so he’ll be a great test to see if Maddalena’s vicious style will continue to work as he moves up the division. Combine his style with his age and we could have ourselves one incredible hype train if Maddalena can keep the fun going!
Justin Tafa vs. Parker Porter
BATHROOM BREAK - It wouldn’t be the UFC if a seemingly perfect UFC main card wasn’t inexplicably broken up by two massive, exhausted, and untalented heavyweights.
MMAalgo Bet - Justin Tafa 3u @ -125 (better than -191.3)
Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield
WATCH - The rise and fall of #12 ranked Light Heavyweight Jimmy Crute has been incredibly frustrating. On his way up it felt like all of his victories were overhyped considering the skill (or lack thereof) of his opponents. And then on the way down his losses have been overblown considering the injuries Crute has suffered that have contributed to them. Menifield on the other hand is an above average journeyman who seems to always be trending upwards despite also being able to lose to literally anybody on any given night. So here is the crossroads fight we all knew had to happen. Is Crute’s hype an exaggerated blimp and his fall from the rankings was inevitable? Is Menifield really a menace who can shoot for the stars with new found consistency? Contender or journeyman? These two will bloody the octagon to show us which one they truly are.
*Nothing contained in this post is financial advice, please bet at your own risk