UFC 284 Full Card Breakdown

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UFC 284

Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski

Let me start off by saying WHAT A FUCKING FIGHT!!! I haven’t been this excited for a matchup in a while. The stakes are incredibly high for both fighters. For Islam, he is on his way to being the new Khabib. He can even surpass his mentor. He brings the same unstoppable mystique that Khabib did. If he comes out and rag dolls Volkanovski it will be very hard to not call him the best P4P fighter in the world. For Volkanovski, he has a chance to be champ champ. He did everything the right way. He completely cleaned out an entire division and now gets his chance at a higher weight class. The UFC made this fight for Volkanovski, not for Islam. This is Volkanovski’s shot at greatness!

Islam is a wrestler. Not only is he a wrestler, but he’s quite possibly the best MMA wrestler since Khabib. When people think of Islam they don’t necessarily think of a potent finisher. This is incorrect. Islam doesn’t just look to hold you down. He is going for the finish at all times. In 12 wins Islam has found the finish in 8 of them. 4 of them coming in round 1. He’s also finished his last 5 opponents. His style is hard to deal with. He brings great strength and mixes it with world class technique. On the feet he is no killer, but he is great defensively and if given an opening he will take advantage. His wrestling changes how opponents approach him and throws them off their game.

Volkanovski is the featherweight GOAT. He is the most well rounded fighter in the UFC and he may have the most heart out of anyone as well. His work ethic is insane and he is loving coming into this fight being underestimated. Volkanovski has completely cleaned out his division. He has improved with every fight and I feel confident in saying I think he has the best striking in MMA. He will be undersized in this fight, but he is not scared. He has been undersized his entire life and is used to competing with guys 200+ in rugby and in the gym. Volkanovski said strength has never been a problem for him. He should hold major advantages in speed and in striking. He’s putting in serious work with grapplers for this camp and has been drilling not only take down defense, but how to get up and deal with being taken down and put into bad spots. He seems to be doing everything as right as you can

The line is too wide. You can’t count Volkanovski out, but I do lean towards Islam being to strong and too good a grappled. Those Dagestany boys are different. The fight doesn’t go the distance is currently -165. This is a steal. I see this finishing either way. Playing that hard

Yair Rodriguez vs Josh Emmett

For our comain event we have an interim title fight. Both of these fighters are well deserving at this point. They’ve fought tough competition and for the most part have shown they can compete with anyone.

Yair is 7 years younger than Emmett. Emmett knows this is his one chance. Win this fight at 37 and hope to face Volkanovski if he chooses to come back down in weight. Yair should have the advantage striking. Emmett is a good striker, but relies on power. Yair is diverse. Throws a lot of different techniques and is capable of hitting moves that a lot wouldn’t even try to attempt.

Yair won his last fight in a somewhat flukey way. Technically it was a submission, hit I don’t care what anyone says, that kind of submission took some luck. Where I am impressed with Yair is actually in his loss to Max. He showed me he’s still improving. He got in a war with Max and never gave up. He is so creative on the feet and throws everything with bad intentions. One thing I loved to see is his use of leg kicks. Throws them brutally hard too. Max Holloway was able to take him down and got to mount and to his back in that fight. Don’t love that going into this fight, but Emmett doesn’t take it to the ground often.

Emmett is a beast. He’s 37 years old and he comes in shredded every single fight. He’s 18-2. He throws heat on the feat and can wrestle with the best of em. Like I said, he knows this is his last shot and according to everyone around Him, he has been working harder than ever. There are rumors floating around that Emmett has a serious hip injury. Could be true. Like we’ve said a few times, this is his shot, he doesn’t want to give up on it, so I could see him fighting even with an injury. I don’t see this affecting him all that much unless he had a wrestling heavy gameplan, which I doubt. But, if he gets in trouble on the feet against a dynamic striker like Yair, his back up plan to wrestle may be affected.

This is going to be a great fight. Emmett has the power advantage, but that’s about it. I think Yair is still improving as a fighter and at -190 the price is right for a bet here.

Jack Della Maddalena vs Randy Brown

Maddalena is 13-2 with an 13 fight winning streak. He hasn’t lost since 2016. And avenged one of his losses with a first round tko. He has 11 tkos and one sub on his record. Man does not go to decision. He’s 26 years old and is fighting out of Australia. He’s got good striking with good power and like he said “he knows when to turn it on” I like his approach to the sport and his attitude. Maddalena said he’s not going to cherry pick opponents and wants to face the best in the world. “I try and finish the fight from the get go. I trust my fitness. I think I can push the pace for 15 minutes.” Jack’s striking is something of beauty. Lots of power, technique behind everything and he rips to the body. Dude is legit

Randy Brown is a curious fighter. He’s sneakily been in the ufc since 2016, every time hes gotten a step up in comp he’s faltered. He’s lost to niko price, Belal and Vicente Luque. In 2019 he finally seemed to have come into his own. He’s a freak athlete has a 78 inch reach and has won 4 in a row now. At his best he’s a problem. Hits hard, he’s massive and strong as shit. At his worst he can be sloppy and looks a little green out there.

Randy Brown will have a 5 inch reach advantage in this fight. This is also the biggest step up in comp for Maddalena in his career. With that said I see Maddalena brutalizing brown. Their striking prowess is just on two different levels. I think Maddalena is a legit prospect. ITD should be safe

Justin Tafa vs Parker Porter

I really wanted Tafa to be good. He has the Mark Hunt look and he has massive power. He’s just not very good. He was the first heavyweight ever to miss weight for a fight and that just shows his commitment level. He likes to stand and bang. Actually credits Mark Hunt for his rise in MMA. Lower volume striker, capable of turning out your lights at any time. He is a big man, but he is able to throw the high kick up there. It’s a great strike for him

Parker Porter is a guy I made fun of a little recently, throwing his long shot odds up for winning the title this year, but Porter has some decent skills. Before losing to Jailton, Parker was on a 3 fight winning streak over guys with the exact skill level of Tafa. Parker is a volume striker. Has great cardio for a heavyweight and I would say he owns a grappling advantage in this fight even though I doubt it gets used. “I’m excited about the fans. I think it is a great freaking matchup. We are both the kind of guys who want to bite down on our mouthpiece, dig our heels in and start throwing leather.” This one isn’t hitting the cards. Won’t that said Parker does know Tafa isn’t one to mess around with too much. He needs to be smart “He is definitely one of those guys who is dangerous from the start to the end, no matter how tired he gets, no matter how much volume or lack of volume or how much you hit him, he has the potential to hit you with that one punch off button. Just play it smart, don’t be reckless, make sure your guard is tight and not being stupid,” Porter said.

Parker Porter is the better fighter. This doesn’t always matter at heavyweight. If I was forced to chose I’d take Porter, but in reality this is a pretty low level heavyweight fight and you should stay away

Jimmy Crute vs Alonzo Menifield

“All I’m gonna say is just wait, because I’m gonna blow him out the water. This is different this time. He’s preparing for the wrong person, I promise you.” This is a great quote from Jimmy Crute. Love to see the confidence after an injury and two losses in a row. Doing some Instagram stalking and Crute is in excellent shape. Not only is he in good shape, but he has been in shape since Oct. Looks like he gave himself enough time to recover fully and improve. Crute also has the advantage of training with guys like newly crowned pfl millionaire Rob Wilkinson and one of the best to do it Robert Whittaker. Crute is a guy I’m extremely high on. He is super strong, has excellent wrestling and big power in his hands. Has some great wins including a submission win over Paul Craig, a round one knockout over the always tough Sam alvey and then a first round ko over michal oleksiejczuk and Bukauskas. He only has three losses. He got caught in a sub against cirkunov, which I think was a bit of a fluke, had his leg compromised against Anthony Smith and still almost won that fight with wrestling on one leg and then he got caught early against Jamahal Hill. He is very tough and has an extremely high ceiling. He’s still young and looks to be in the best shape of his life right now.

Menifield is as strong as they come. He’s coming off two first round kos. It wasn’t over the best comp, but he did what he was supposed to do. Menifield said he’s been working on his cardio the last few fights so that he could really go out there and be himself. He learned this in his loss to William Knight. He went out, tried to pace himself and it didn’t work. He has good takedown defense and throws hard winging punches that can end anyones night.

Menifield does have good takedown defense, but it is only because he has super human strength. Cirkunov was able to get in on his legs and timed some nice attempts, but despite giving up position, Menifield was able to use his strength to overcome it. I don’t see this working against Crute. Menifield is also brutally slow on the feet. Yes, he can knock Crute out, but I don’t see it happening. Crute finishes Menifield in this fight

Tyson Pedro vs Modestas Bukauskas

Seeing a lot of people saying that Bukauskas is live. I just really don’t see it. Bukauskas is a low out put striker without much power. Tyson Pedro is a power striker with fight ending power and a grappling game to put you away as well. Bukauskas is out gunned in all areas of this fight. Pedro ITD is a great bet

Joshua Culibao vs Melsik Baghdasaryan

Culibao is a guy that I have definitely underestimated. Culibao is 10-1-1. He’s 2-1-1 in the UFC with his loss coming to Jalin Turner via ground and pound, his draw coming to Charles Jourdain. In that fight we saw Culibao win rounds 1 and 2 before getting beaten down to a 10-8 round in the third. His wins came against Shayilan and Choi. Culibao has really good footwork and head movement. He throws a ton of leg kicks and has really clean striking. Good power. He’s showed good balance and take down defense. When Choi had him down he did take his back with some ease. May not have the most output, but he drops almost everyone he fights

Melsik is a killer. He has a TON of first round finishes with a bunch in under a minute. He’s a striker and throws heavy everything. Loves spinning techniques and throws everything with intent to kill. Melsik has been out a while due to a broken hand. He wants to go out and get a knockout on enemy territory and make them “clap” for him. Got some inside info from the discord and Melsik has been putting in some road work. Dude wants to be the one pushing the pace on guys in the third round. This would be great against a guy like Culibao who tends to lose round 3.

A fight between two power punchers. This should be a great fight and I lean Melsik. I think Melsik has the higher ceiling and if it hits the ground I favor him there as well. Another close fight though

Shannon Ross vs Kleydson Rodrigues

Ross is a guy I was very high on going into his DWCS fight. He didn’t get the win that night, but still impressed Dana enough to get a contract. He’s a great striker. Constantly walks his opponents down. Great footwork. Rips to the body. Always in great shape. Ross fought on the DWCS with a ruptured appendix. Not only does that cause massive stomach pains, but it puts you into what is called sepsis. This is a massive blood infection. Ross was not at full strength in this fight. He gets a home town redemption shot against another dwcs guy in Kleydson

I was not as high on Kleydson coming into DWCS and I was proven wrong. Kleydson is a good striker. Throws nice heavy leg kicks. Likes spinning techniques. Has excellent excellent takedown defense and has shown a nice chin. Can be hesitant to pull the trigger at times. Not the fastest guy at 125

Kleydson is a big favorite in this fight and I think people are sleeping on Ross here. Shannon Ross is good. I expect him to be the faster of the two and to be the more aggressive of the two. Fight should be closer to a pick em. Ross is a great dog shot

Jamie Mullarkey vs Francisco Prado

Jamie mullarkey is a grinder. He pushes a strong pace and can break guys with toughness and tenacity. That is exactly what he did to devontae smith and Khama worthy. He likes to get inside range and make it a dog fight. He mixes in timely takedowns when needed. He trains with Alex Volkanovski and you can tell. He’s a poor mans version of Alex. They did fight back in 2016 and it didn’t end well for mullarkey. He’s coming off a split Dec win over Michael Johnson and that win is starting to look pretty good. He’s fighting in his home country and he said he’s looking to put on a show “I remember that feeling when I was 9-0 when I fought Alex Volkanovski, and I ran into a brick wall there. I’d say this weekend will be similar. He’s super dangerous. The dangerous thing about someone who hasn’t lost a fight is that they got the self-belief that every single fight is going to go that way. It can be dangerous for me, but also dangerous for him. So, I’m just gonna look to show the levels and show that he’s not quite ready for my backyard,”

Prado is only 20 years old. He’s 11-0 with 11 finishes. He will be at a 4 inch reach disadvantage in this fight. Prado has fast hands and that power is real. Has a knack for hitting guys right on the button. Very athletic with a great ground game. Uses his strength to muscle takedowns. A little wild though can be countered

Prado looks like a decent prospect and he is only 20 years old, but it’s hard not to take Mullarkey here. Mullarkey has been in the cage with killers and I do think he is a full level above Prado to this point. Mullarkey ITD

Jack Jenkins vs Don Shainis

Really impressed from what I see from Jenkins. Jenkins is very technically sound. Excellent takedown defense and patient in the right way. Jenkins absolutely destroyed Linares on DWCS showing off that excellent striking. Dana white said he’s a one trick pony and Jenkins said this week that he has put in the work to be a competitive grappler against anyone in the ufc, but make no mistake, he’s here to strike.

Shainis made his ufc debut on short notice against Sodiq Youssef. That fight only lasted 30 seconds, but can’t count it against him too much. Shainis is very aggressive. Comes out swinging bombs, gets in close and has the strength to slam you down. On the ground he has a knack for getting on the back. Good submissions. Well rounded

For as good as Shainis is I think this is a great matchup for Jenkins. Jenkins patience on the feet will expose the over aggressive Shainis. Jenkins with confidence

Loma Lookboonmee vs Elise Reed

Lookboonmee is a Muay Thai specialist. Her striking is super impressive. In her fight against sam Hughes we saw he grappling improvements. This was an interesting matchup because Sam Hughes is a strong girl who looks to wrestle, but almost every single time Hughes got a takedown, loma reversed it. If she didn’t reverse it, she was able to get back to the feet. She has struggled with bigger longer girls in the past. Wrestling on point and seems to be her focus as of late

Reed has size in this matchup but that it is it. Loma can win this on the feet and she can definitely win this on the ground. Reed can not stop a takedown to save her life, or her fight career. Reed loses easily to Loma

Shane Young vs Blake Bilder

Shane young is yet another guy to lose to Volkanovski and then go on to train at city kickboxing. He is in tremendous shape. Him and Adesanya love posing together showing off their roided up, I mean all natural, bodies. Omar Morales even commented on the strength of Young after their fight saying he had to change his game plan up because of it. Young is a striker, but likes to mix the wrestling in. He’s fought a low level of comp outside of Volkanovski and he’s lost his last 2 fights. He’s been away from the cage for 2 years.

“It’s never a layoff for me. I’m constantly and continuously improving and getting better every day. It’s actually worse and worse for everybody else in our division because I’m getting that much better,” Bilder explained. “I do not take days off. I don’t relax. I don’t chill. I’m obsessed and this is all I think about.” Blake Bilder literally has no chill. Bilder is undefeated and the narrative going into his DWCS fight was that he starts slow. Well he was on his way to losing that first round until he clipped Morgan and choked him out. Bilder is 32 years old and still improving. A little slow for the division

Outside of Bilder getting lucky and catching Young I don’t see how he wins this fight. I’m not that high on Shane Young, but this is not the matchup to fade him in. Should win easy

Zubaira Tukhugov vs Elves Brenner

Zubaira is finally moving up to 155 after struggling for years to make weight at 145. This will be a good move for him. This fight is not close. Don’t let anyone fool you. Zubaira obliterates Brenner. Probably finishes him