DISCLAIMER: This post is covering the co main event and main event of the main card.
UFC 208 will take place from the Barclays Centre on February 11th and the co and main event fights are very interesting.
In the co main event, a young Middleweight (Derek Brunson) looks to prove himself as a serious contender against one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Anderson Silva. The first Women's Featherweight champion will be crowned in the main event when former Bantamweight champion Holly Holm faces off against the former Dutch kickboxer Germaine de Randamie.
In this post, I will be previewing these two fights and giving my prediction.
Anderson Silva vs Derek Brunson (Middleweight bout)
Anderson Silva is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time.
Oldest active fighter in the Middleweight division at 41.
Longest Championship reign in UFC history (2,457 days, 14th October 2006 - 6th June 2013).
Most main event appearances in UFC history (19).
You just can't argue with that.
The Brazilian (33-8 MMA, 16-4 UFC, 1 No Contest) made the most title defences in the UFC (10) when he was the Middleweight champion and defeated very notable opponents such as Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen (twice).
Although the Spider has had mixed results in recent fights, he has continued to fight for the fun of it and his next opponent is hungry to prove himself against the future UFC Hall of Famer.
Derek Brunson (16-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was on a roll before losing to Robert Whittaker in November 2016. The North Carolina native had won his last five fights inside the Octagon, with four first-round knockouts, and is one of the many prospects in the Middleweight division.
He's been given the opportunity to fight arguably the greatest Middleweight of all-time and with a win, he will have a serious claim for a title fight later this year.
In terms of how the fight will go, I think that Brunson will look to finish the fight within the first or second round not only based off his last six fights but if he knocks out Anderson Silva early on, a star will surely be made.
However, the experience and selective striking of Silva will prevail over Brunson but Brunson will come out of the fight looking good that he hold his own against a legend.
PREDICTION: Silva wins via third-round knockout.
When you want to be serious but your opponent is a LEGEND...#UFC208 pic.twitter.com/UdIUip2YjK— #UFC208 (@ufc) 8 February 2017
Holly Holm vs Germaine de Randamie (For the Inaugural Women's Featherweight Championship)
The first Women's Featherweight champion will be crowned in the first-ever Women's Featherweight fight in the UFC between Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie.
It feels as if the UFC has made this fight without considering the depth of the future Women's Featherweight division, with many Bantamweight fighters having to move up 10 pounds to be considered in the rankings.
This fight was also announced before the inclusion of Anderson Silva in the co main event and thus shows how many would see the UFC as rushing this new Women's division onto a PPV.
Anyway, Holm (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will look to become the first Woman fighter in the UFC to have held multiple titles and cement herself as more than the girl who ended Ronda Rousey's undefeated streak.
Her opponent, de Randamie (6-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC), is a fierce striker and a former kickboxer with a prefect record of 37 fights, 14 via KO.
Both have a mass collection of striking skills, with Holm having a boxing record of 33-2-3, so naturally you'd think there will be a finish in this main event but I'm going to go against the grain and predict a unanimous decision victory for de Randamie.
The reason for this is that despite the vast striking skills of both fighters, a large part of he fight will go to the ground where I'm confident neither will get a successful submission.
PREDICTION: de Randamie wins via unanimous decision.
Holly Holm and Germanie de Randamie stare-off before their historic fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment