Last Saturday’s UFC 208 was an ugly card, but things will return to normal at UFC 209…more or less.
Two incredibly compelling fights sit atop the March 4 event in the welterweight title match between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson and the in…
Last Saturday’s UFC 208 was an ugly card, but things will return to normal at UFC 209…more or less.
Two incredibly compelling fights sit atop the March 4 event in the welterweight title match between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson and the interim lightweight title bout of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson. Backing them up is a heavyweight slugfest in Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt. From there, however, the card drops off in a big way.
The full list of fights is as follows:
Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson
Lando Vannata vs. David Teymur
Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
Rashad Evans vs. Daniel Kelly
Darren Elkins vs. Mirsad Bektic
Todd Duffee vs. Mark Godbeer
Igor Pokrajac vs. Ed Herman
Other bouts will likely be announced in the coming days, and the order is yet to be determined. As such, it’s worth taking a quick look at each of the fights that are confirmed and a deeper look at the three guaranteed spots at the top.
And…first!
Germaine de Randamie is the new, and inaugural, UFC women’s featherweight champion. She got the unanimous decision to get her hand raised against former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm.
Up next? That’s difficult to say. It’s a new div…
And…first!
Germaine de Randamie is the new, and inaugural, UFC women’s featherweight champion. She got the unanimous decision to get her hand raised against former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm.
Up next? That’s difficult to say. It’s a new division without many signings. It’s why two former bantamweights moved up to fight for the title in the first place. It’s incredibly shallow.
In the co-main event, Anderson Silva picked up his first win since 2012 when he got the nod over Derek Brunson.
Ten fights on the card, and nine went to the scorecards. It was not a banner evening for the leader in MMA. But it still got results that move the divisions forward. The matchmakers need to get to work, and we are here to assist them with their duties.
Here are the matches to make following UFC 208 in Brooklyn.
UFC 208 is almost upon us, and the event is, quite simply, weird.
In some ways, this can be looked at as an “old guard vs. new breed” card, filled with fights like Anderson Silva vs. Derek Brunson, Glover Teixeira vs. Jared Cannonier and Jim Miller vs….
UFC 208 is almost upon us, and the event is, quite simply, weird.
In some ways, this can be looked at as an “old guard vs. new breed” card, filled with fights like Anderson Silva vs. Derek Brunson, Glover Teixeira vs. Jared Cannonier and Jim Miller vs. Dustin Poirier. On the other hand, it is also filled with matchups between fighters in radically different stages in their careers. Holly Holm is challenging for the vacant 145-pound title despite being on a two-fight losing streak, and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is fighting a middling Tim Boetsch despite being a legitimate title contender.
It’s hard what to make of this event and what it will lead to for the numerous talents therein. All that aside, the Bleacher Report predictions team is here to put their names on the line to pick the winners for these odd fights.
Saturday’s UFC 208 card will feature the first women’s featherweight title matchup, as Germaine de Randamie (6-3) is listed as a small -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100) to claim the belt over former bantamweight champion Holly Holm (10-2…
Saturday’s UFC 208 card will feature the first women’s featherweight title matchup, as Germaine de Randamie (6-3) is listed as a small -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100) to claim the belt over former bantamweight champion Holly Holm (10-2), according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.
The main event between two of the most feared female strikers in MMA highlights a 12-bout card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Some may be surprised to see de Randamie as the favorite against Holm, but the fighters are heading in opposite directions. De Randamie has won four of five at bantamweight, with her lone loss coming versus current 135-pound champion Amanda Nunes via first-round TKO (elbows) back on November 6, 2013.
The 32-year-old Dutch kickboxer has put together back-to-back TKO wins since falling to Nunes, earning Performance of the Night honors in her last victory against Anna Elmose at UFC Fight Night 87 on May 8 of last year.
Meanwhile, Holm, who is a +105 underdog (bet $100 to win $105), has dropped two straight after upsetting Ronda Rousey with a stunning second-round knockout of the former champ at UFC 193 more than a year ago in Sydney, Australia.
The 35-year-old former pro boxer suffered a loss via rear-naked choke to Miesha Tate at UFC 196 on March 5 last year to lose the belt. Then she was on the wrong side of a unanimous decision versus current No. 1 contender Valentina Shevchenko at UFC on FOX 20 on July 23.
This recent two-fight skid has made it easier for Holm to move up to 145 pounds. There were rumors that she might face Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino for the featherweight title, but a potential USADA doping violation for Cyborg ended that speculation.
In the co-main event, living legend Anderson “The Spider” Silva (33-8, 1 no-contest) will enter the Octagon for the 22nd time when he takes on Derek Brunson (16-4) in a key middleweight bout.
The 41-year-old Silva is a +125 underdog on the UFC 208 betting lines and has officially lost his last four fights, along with a no-contest after both he and opponent Nick Diaz tested positive for banned substances following their bout at UFC 183 two years ago.
Like de Randamie, Brunson is in better current form, and he is justified as a -155 favorite against the future UFC Hall of Famer. Despite coming off a first-round loss to Robert Whittaker on November 27 last year at UFC Fight Night 101 in Melbourne, Australia, Brunson is the eighth-ranked 185-pounder with a 7-2 mark in the UFC. He had won his previous five fights.
The UFC will add a new champion to the fold when Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie close out UFC 208 on Saturday, February 11, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The main event features the latest weight class to be added to the…
The UFC will add a new champion to the fold when Holly Holm and Germaine deRandamie close out UFC 208 on Saturday, February 11, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The main event features the latest weight class to be added to the organization as the women’s featherweight division will christen their inaugural champion.
On one side of the ledger is the woman the UFC is obviously hoping will pave the way for the class. Holm is an accomplished professional boxer who knocked out Ronda Rousey before it became cool. Aside from the 145-pound elephant in the room in Cris Cyborg, she’ll be the biggest star from the outset for the division.
In the other corner will be a lesser-known talent, but an interesting one nonetheless. De Randamie is a 32-year-old Dutch kickboxer with a world championship background in her own striking discipline.
It all makes up for an interesting striker vs. striker matchup for a UFC title looking for its first owner. Here’s a look at how the two stack up statistically, along with a look at how each fighter got to this point and a prediction for the bout.
Holly Holm: The Once and Future Queen?
Holly Holm‘s rise and fall as the champion of the women’s bantamweight division is one of the most rapid in the history of the UFC. The former boxer burst onto the scene with an improbable demolition of Ronda Rousey, only to be upended herself by Miesha Tate.
It has Holm in a sudden career crossroads. After starting her career off at a perfect 10-0, she now sits with a two-fight losing streak.
Yet, the creation of the featherweight division has given her a chance to re-emerge on the title scene. It’s a situation that has created a real sense of pressure for the 35-year-old.
“There’s a lot of pressure,” Holm said, per Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting. “What is Holly going to do now at 145 coming off two losses? She’s never been here before. She’s coming off the highlight of her career [against Rousey] to two losses in a row. The most unsuccessful year of my entire fighting career.”
As accomplished as Holm is, the win over Rousey was never indicative of who she is as a fighter. Holm‘s superior striking ability manifested itself in the form of a vicious knockout win over Rousey, but the truth is she’s never been much of a knockout artist.
As a boxer, only nine of Holm‘s 33 wins came by way of knockout. The finish of Rousey is still the only knockout that she has under the UFC banner.
Holm is at her best when she’s able to stick opponents at the end of her jab and kicks, utilizing her movement and combinations to outpoint opponents over the course of five rounds.
It’s something she hasn’t been able to do the last two times out. Tate ultimately caught her in a submission, while Valentina Shevchenko was able to force Holm into being more aggressive than she’d like to be and did more damage from the outside.
It all sets the stage for an interesting bit as deRandamie has the length to put Holm on the outside as well.
If it’s Holm‘s goal to be known as more than the woman who beat Ronda Rousey, now is the time for her to carve out a new legacy.
Germaine deRandamie: The Unlikely UFC Title Contender
Germaine deRandamie may be the most little known contender for a UFC title in the promotion’s history.
The Dutch kickboxer is ranked No. 10 in the women’s bantamweight division, which isn’t even the deepest to begin with. Her three wins in the UFC have come against women who have yet to win a fight under the UFC banner, and she was beaten in the first round by Amanda Nunes in the only fight she has against a fighter who is currently ranked.
Still, deRandamie brings skills to the table. Her background as a world champion kickboxer is legit, and she has showcased power in her last two bouts, winning by TKO in both.
De Randamie understands that she comes into this bout as the lesser-known fighter but remains confident that people will know who she is after this fight, per Tim Bissell of Bloody Elbow:
A lot of people have been writing or saying that maybe Holly or I don’t deserve to be there. A lot of people do not know enough about my credentials, or Holly’s, but we have some amazing credentials on our records. At the end of the day, they offered people the fight and Holly and I, we both said, ‘yes.’ So I can only say one thing: a lot of people might not know me right now, but after February 11th, you won’t forget me anymore. You will know who I am. It’s gonna be on hell of a night, and one hell of a fight. That’s one thing I can promise.
“The Iron Lady” was definitely not the woman that most would have thought to be in the first championship bout in the women’s 145-pound division. That honor would belong to Cris Cyborg. However, she is the one getting the call.
The intriguing thing is that she is one of the fighters who could greatly benefit from the new division. At 5’9″ with a 71″ reach, deRandamie has a long frame that could be better suited at the higher weight where she was 1-1 in Strikeforce.
She’ll definitely have the opportunity to boost her profile on Saturday night.
Prediction
Holm might be the more well-known fighter, but since opening as a slight favorite, deRandamie has actually become a 4-5 favorite, according to OddsShark.
That’s because deRandamie is a nightmare matchup for Holm. Not only does she have more length to actually have success where Holm wants the fight to take place at range, but she also has the power to win a fire fight on the inside.
The versatility of deRandamie as a striker is why Patrick Wymanof Bleacher Report is picking the muaythai specialist to win the belt:
The sheer technical soundness of deRandamie‘s striking game is hard to overstate. She does all the little things well: Her footwork is outstanding, she pivots and moves beautifully, and she always keeps her feet under her as she throws. Everything she does is efficient with no wasted motion or energy. She’s slick defensively, pulling her head off line as she throws to avoid counters and using crisp parries and blocks.
De Randamie‘s skill set as a striker definitely makes for an uphill battle for Holm. She’s fairly one-dimensional herself and isn’t in too many matchups where she doesn’t have the striking advantage.
However, it’s still hard to pick The Iron Lady given the discrepancy of talent these two have faced. Holm has wins over quality UFC veterans in Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau, in addition to her win over Rousey, while deRandamie‘s three-loss resume doesn’t have an impressive win on it.
It could be that deRandamie‘s striking skills shine through and it’s enough for her to get the nod in a decision or even finish Holm. It’s also possible that Holm‘s experience against better competition shows that she’s simply on another level than deRandamie.
Ultimately, both could be true at different times. Holm takes a back-and-forth decision, although deRandamie will have her moments as the featherweight division kicks off with a dynamic championship bout.
The UFC is back in action Saturday with UFC 208 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The first pay-per-view event of 2017 is full of terrific bouts, headlined by Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie.
Holm, the former UFC bantamweight champion, …
The UFC is back in action Saturday with UFC 208 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The first pay-per-view event of 2017 is full of terrific bouts, headlined by Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie.
Holm, the former UFC bantamweight champion, will get an opportunity to be the first woman to hold belts in multiple divisions. This is because her match with De Randamie will be for the inaugural UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship.
It is also the first fight in the UFC’s newly minted women’s featherweight division.
The main card features four other bouts, including a middleweight clash between the legendary Anderson Silva and Derek Brunson. Preliminary fights will air on UFC Fight Pass and Fox Sports 1.
With weigh-ins set to take place Friday at 6 p.m. ET, we’re here to take a look at the latest news and hype heading into UFC 208. We will also examine the main card—along with the latest odds from OddsShark—and make our predictions.
UFC 208
What: Holm vs. De Randamie for women’s featherweight title
One of the big reasons the UFC decided to implement the women’s 145-pound weight class was to incorporate popular MMA star Cris “Cyborg” Justino. However, she won’t be headlining UFC 208 because she recently submitted a positive drug test.
According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Justino tested positive for the banned diuretic spironolactone. Per Pugmire, Justino is seeking a retroactive exemption for the drug, stating she was given the prescription by a Brazilian doctor for the treatment of high blood pressure.
This, of course, isn’t the first time Justino has been involved with doping allegations. Back in 2011, she tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. If the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency considers her prior violation along with her current one, she could face up to a two-year ban from competition.
This would be a detriment to the UFC, which essentially created a new division in order to make Justino a regular headline draw.
Holm, De Randamie Not Concerned with Justino
Fans who may have been wondering why Justino isn’t involved in the inaugural women’s featherweight bout now have their answer. If you think, though, that Cyborg is going to overshadow the title fight, think again.
For Holm and De Randamie, this is still an opportunity to wear gold—even if some will continue to regard Justino as the top featherweight in the world.
Holm, who dealt with her fair share of fanfare leading up to her bout with then-bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey in November 2015, isn’t buying into the noise. She recently said the following, per Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie:
When I first signed with the UFC, I had two fights, one fight being Raquel Pennington and then Marion Reneau. In both of those fights, people kept asking me, “How long do you think until you fight Ronda?” I said,”Well I have these fights in front of me first, so I have to get through them.” I know Cris “Cyborg” is definitely the big name for the 145-pound division, but right now with this situation she has going on, I think I’ll just let that pan out.
Getting past De Randamie isn’t going to be easy. While Holm is a savvy technical striker, De Randamie brings more range and more power. There’s a real chance that Holm loses her third consecutive fight and De Randamie is the one left waiting for Justino.
Don’t expect De Randamie to be looking ahead, either.
“Cris got the offer to fight Holly, Cris got the offer to fight me, and she wasn’t able to,” De Randamie said, per Bohn. “If you’re a champion, you fight against everybody. Holly and I are going to fight, and one of us will decide who is the next No. 1.”
The overall theme here is that fans can expect an actual championship fight Saturday. This isn’t going to be like when the promotion dreamed up a new men’s interim featherweight belt in order to headline UFC 206 between Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway.
Whether or not Justino eventually comes calling for the 145-pound title, this is the start of a new era in women’s MMA, with Holm and De Randamie at the forefront.
Silva vs. McGregor Looming?
UFC 208 is also going to feature one of the more popular fighters in recent MMA history in Anderson Silva. While he is no longer a dominant fighter, he is still a notable draw in the sport.
There’s a chance that this week’s fight against Brunson is a springboard back into the limelight. Silva, at any rate, is looking to challenge himself against one of the best fighters of today.
“I respect Conor McGregor’s style,” Silva said. “I think it’s a great challenge for my martial arts techniques. And I don’t talk to disrespect Conor; I do it for the challenge, for myself and for the best stand-up fighting. I think this is the great fight.”
McGregor is trying to negotiate with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. However, the Irish superstar has never shied away from a big fight—or a big payday—and he would likely accept Silva’s challenge at the right price.
“What’s Anderson talking about?” McGregor said in response, per Andreas Hale of Yahoo Sports. “Look, I’ll fight any one of them. Make sure the numbers are right; make sure the situation is right. I’ll fight any one of them at any given time.”
This would be an interesting fight, as Silva (a middleweight) is two weight classes above McGregor (a lightweight). Of course, Silva might want to concentrate on winning the fight in front of him first. He hasn’t officially won a bout since October 2012.
Saturday’s