Josh Culibao vs Melsik Baghdasaryan Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for UFC 284 (Back the Underdog in Australia)

Josh Culibao vs Melsik Baghdasaryan Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for UFC 284 (Back the Underdog in Australia)

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Culibao vs Baghdasaryan Fight Info, Date & Time

UFC 284 — Preliminary Card Featherweight Bout
Josh Culibao (10-1-1, 5 KOs) vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan (7-1-0, 5 KOs)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 12, 2023
Fight Time: This will be one of the fights on the preliminary card, which begins at 6 p.m. ET.
Venue: RAC Arena — Perth, Australia
Coverage: ESPN+, PPV

Culibao vs Baghdasaryan Odds & Prop Bets

All UFC 284 odds, lines and prop bets are available on FanDuel Sportsbook.
Moneyline:
- Josh Culibao: (-120)
- Melsik Baghdasaryan: (-104)

Method of Victory:
- Culibao by KO/TKO: (N/A)
- Culibao by Points: (N/A)
- Culibao by Submission: (N/A)
- Baghdasaryan by KO/TKO: (N/A)
- Baghdasaryan by Points: (N/A)
- Baghdasaryan by Submission: (N/A)

Culibao vs Baghdasaryan Prediction

This is one bout on the UFC 284 preliminary card that is too close to call. Culibao enters as a slight favorite after taking down SeungWoo Choi via a split decision in his most recent fight (June of 2022). He has bounced back from an opening loss at the UFC level with two notable victories and one draw.

Baghdasaryan may be a slight underdog here, but he is the fighter that has yet to lose in the UFC. The 31-year-old took down Dennis Buzukja via unanimous decision before knocking out Collin Anglin and defeating Bruno Souza. It's become evident that the Armenian has an underrated style of attacking.

Baghdasaryan has proven he is not afraid to keep punching as he averages 6.0 significant strikes landed per minute and owns a 63% strike accuracy. Those numbers greatly outshine Culibao's marks of 3.1 significant strikes per minute with a 44% accuracy. The trends point to an upset in this bout.

I'll side with Melsik Baghdasaryan to come out on top.

Culibao vs Baghdasaryan Best Bet

There is a rightful concern that Baghdasaryan may need to shake off a bit of rust considering he was forced out of a pair of bouts last year. He hasn't stepped into the octagon since November of 2021. However, he is nicknamed "The Gun" for a reason. He has the skillset to come out firing right away.

That same thing cannot be said about Culibao, though. The 28-year-old is known for wearing down his opponent and relying on his endurance to pull through in the end. This fight could very well come down to one fighter earning a quick edge with first round knockdowns. I like that to be Baghdasaryan.

Bet: Baghdasaryan ML (-104)

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

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