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UFC 284 Odds, Picks & Predictions: Best Longshot Bets (2023)

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UFC 284 will get underway this Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. This card features a deep lineup with two title fights set to take place.

Below, I will walk through my two best longshot prop bets to make for this event. These plays are 0.5 units each, or 0.5% of your betting bankroll.

Check out our other UFC 284 betting picks:

Bet $5 on UFC 284 Makhachev vs. Volkanovski, Get $200 in Bonus Bets >>

UFC 284 Best Longshot Bets

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Tyson Pedro vs. Modestas Bukauskas

To end the preliminary card, there is a light heavyweight bout between Tyson Pedro and Modestas Bukauskas. After starting his professional career in dominant fashion, Pedro sat at 6-0 with six inside-the-distance finishes.

However, tougher times have hit the New South Wales native, who is just 3-3 since then. Tough times is nothing new for Pedro’s opponent in this scrap, Modestas Bukauskas.

After a difficult 1-3 stretch under the UFC promotion, Bukauskas was cut and returned to Cage Warriors. With that said, his release from the UFC could potentially be the best thing to happen to Bukauskas in his professional career.

Looking sharp in his last two fights under the Cage Warriors promotion, Bukauskas went 2-0 and knocked out Chuck Campbell to claim the vacant CWFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Due to this accomplishment, he gets another crack at the UFC, this time in the form of Tyson Pedro.

Both of these guys prefer to stand and bang, and both carry a ton of knockout power. Either guy can end this fight early, and I do not think there is enough justification for Bukauskas sitting at +480 to win via knockout.

Yeah, he got cut from the UFC, but he looked great at Cage Warriors, and Pedro has not been all that impressive over the last five years. At almost 5/1, give me Bukauskas and his comeback story.

Pick: Modestas Bukauskas via KO/TKO/DQ (+480 at BetRivers)

Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield

To kick off the main card, there is a light heavyweight bout between the #12 contender Jimmy Crute and the unranked Alonzo Menifield. In back-to-back fights, we are going to back the underdog to win via knockout.

While Crute boasts an impressive resume with some good wins and difficult losses, he is capable of getting caught. He got knocked out in the first round against the now-champion Jamahal Hill, and Menifield possesses nasty power of his own.

Six of his eight wins in the UFC are via knockout, including each of his last two. Both of those came in the first round as Menifield is flirting with earning a ranked spot, something that will likely occur if he can put Crute away on Saturday.

Crute has had two “prove it” fights, one against Hill and the other against Anthony Smith. The loss to Smith is not Crute’s fault, as the fight was called after the first round due to a knee injury.

But, at the end of the day, he is 0-2 against the bigger names of the division. This is Menifield’s first “prove it” fight, and considering that each of these two guys can end the scrap in one swing, it is worth taking a flyer on the underdog to win his third straight bout via knockout.

Pick: Alonzo Menifield via KO/TKO/DQ (+255 at BetRivers)

Best of luck!

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Tony Sartori is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Tony, check out his archive and follow him @tony_sartori.