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This Sunday the world’s premier MMA organisation returns to the NY area for UFC 208 at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn.
Headlining the event will be a contest for the inaugural women’s featherweight championship between former bantamweight champion Holly Holm and Dutch kckboxer Germaine de Randamie.
Holm, currently ranked as the number two contender at bantamweight, is strangely entering this title fight on the back of two heavy losses to Meisha Tate and Valentina Shevchenko. De Randamie, currently ranked at number ten at bantamweight, enters the bout on a two fight win streak with her only loss in four UFC bouts coming to current bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.
When the UFC announced the creation of a woman’s featherweight division most observers believed the obvious match to make was Crystiane ‘Cyborg’ Justine v Holly Holm.
However due to Cyborg declaring herself unable to be adequately prepared for a February fight and a subsequently failed drug test, she was left out.
The Brazilian star’s loss was de Randamie’s gain as she now finds herself on the grandest stage of her martial arts career with an opponent that will allow de Randamie to fight to her strengths.
De Randamie has a patient, but powerful kickboxing style which should bode well for her against the counter attacking style of Holly Holm.
Holm has shown that she is at her most dangerous punishing her overly aggressive opponents on the counter attack, but when she is forced to be more proactive she can become very timid and quickly runs out of options.
The threat of takedowns is one both Holm and de Randamie will likely not have to worry about in this fight and should help both preserve their gas tanks, something de Randamie will need to consider if she is to go five full rounds for the first time in her MMA career.
In what should be a fun, stylistic fight to watch, it will come down to how well de Randamie has prepared for a full fight round fight and if Holm can find a way to be successful with her set-ups against a stronger, measured kickboxer in de Randamie.
Prediction: Holm by decision
In the co-main event the legendary former middleweight champion Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva will aim to get his first official win since 2012 when he faces number eight ranked Derek Brunson.
Silva is coming off a short-notice loss at UFC 200 in a non-title match against light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, and will be in desperate needs of a victory over a ranked opponent if he wants to stay relevant in the middleweight division.
While Silva’s aura of invincibility is now well and truly gone, the MMA legend is still capable of dishing out brutality to his opponents if he remains sharply focused in not only his fights, but in his preparations.
Where once he was able to mesmerise opponents and onlookers with his fluid movement and counterattacks he now appears to have to conserve energy with frustrating periods of inactivity on the feet and trying to finish fights with one spectacular blow.
In Brunson, Silva faces an opponent who poses significant danger but also openings for a victory. Brunson’s wrestling and powerful strikes are a concern given the frequency with which Silva has been taken down or knocked down in his last few fights, but it is that same wild striking style that leaves Brunson open for Silva’s deadly counter attacks.
In his prime Anderson Silva would have handled someone like Derek Brunson with relative ease, but with declining abilities and a young hungry contender in front of him this may be the last time we see Anderson Silva fight near the top of a PPV.
Prediction: Brunson by TKO
In the other feature bout at UFC 208 number three ranked middleweight contender Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza faces number thirteen ranked Tim Boetsch in what appears to be a warm up fight for Jacare’s predicted title shot.
The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace is fighting for the first time since knocking out fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort in May of last year. Jacare is 6-1 in the UFC with his only loss being a razor close split decision loss to the current number one contender Yoel Romero, while Boetsch is riding a two fight win streak heading into the biggest opportunity of his MMA career.
Boetsch brings a level of wrestling, power and durability that has seen him win upset victories against more fancied opponents before, but the odds have never been stacked this high against the ‘Barbarian’.
Jacare has the best BJJ pedigree seen in the Octagon and an ever improving wrestling and stand up game that should see him comfortably defeat Tim Boetsch.
Prediction: Jacare by submission
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