UFC 208 Review

DISCLAIMER: This article is looking at the co and main event of the main card.

As UFC 208 drew to a close at the Barclays Centre in New York, the crowd went home annoyed, confused and frustrated. The co and main event fights, which both went to decision, left media and fans stretching their at the judges' scorecards and the official decisions that followed. With that in mind, let's look at the co and main event of an underwhelming PPV.

Would be nice if the refs and judges would explain their actions but there's very little accountability when it comes to officiating in MMA. https://t.co/mcQ30l5PcX

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 12, 2017

Anderson Silva beats Derek Brunson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 and 30-26)

Anderson 'The Spider' Silva picked up a unanimous decision win over Derek Brunson in the co main event. 

However, many had Brunson (now 16-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) winning the fight with him taking the first and third round. Silva (now 34-8 MMA, 17-4 UFC), in the post-fight press conference, stated that he felt he had won the fight.

Brunson massively disagreed and has made a string of tweets of his disappointment of the loss, whilst still showing respect to one of his favourite fighters, Anderson Silva.

For Silva, it looks likely that he'll continue until he gets a rematch against Michael Bisping, regardless of whether or not the Brit is the Middleweight champion. This was Silva's first win since knocking out Stephen Bonnar at UFC 153 back in October 2012, after his unanimous decision victory at UFC 183 over Nick Diaz was overturned to a no contest after both tested positive for banned substances.

Silva said “I am so happy,” “I am so happy because I worked very hard for this fight. I wanted to give my best for my fans and for New York. New York is a very special place to me. It makes me feel like I’m at home. I’m just so happy." 

"I am sorry for being so emotional, but it is just because I am happy to be here. Next, I just want to go home and look at what will be the next challenge for me. I am very thankful to New York and to my fans.”

Brunson was left extremely furious and said “Everyone is telling me that I won,” “I feel terrible. It’s not Anderson’s fault or the UFC’s fault. 

"I took this fight on short notice and to have this happen is just crazy to me. I take this seriously. This is my job. I put everything into this and I got robbed. It sucks.”

That 30-27 for Silva is one of the worst scorecards I've ever seen. Gosh. Gotta feel for Brunson.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 12, 2017

Germaine de Randamie beats Holly Holm via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47 and 48-47) and 
becomes the first-ever UFC Women's Featherweight Champion

Germanie de Randamie (now 7-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) became the first-ever Women's Featherweight Champion after beating Holly Holm (now 10-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) via unanimous decision.

This didn't sit well with many watching, as de Randamie twice (at the end of the second and third round) hit Holm after the horn and referee Todd Anderson warned the former Dutch kickboxing Champion but didn't take any points.

This turned out to be crucial with the three judges scoring 48-47 in de Randamie's favour.

Regarding the illegal punches, de Randamie said “It was in the heat of the moment,” “I apologised. The referee, the first time, told me it was at the buzzer. It wasn’t meant for me to hit her after the bell. I apologize. I’m not like that.”

Holm said in the post-fight press conference that she thought the illegal punches from de Randamie were intentional. 

“A lot of times, the first one they give a warning, that’s kind of normal,” “I wouldn’t expect them to take a point after the first one, even though it was intentional. The second time, at that point you think they’d do something.”

“It wasn’t like the last punch of a combination after the bell rang,” “It was intentional and it was after the bell. What can you do?”

In her Octagon interview, de Randamie didn't call out Cris Cyborg, who was in attendance for the historic main event, but said that she would have surgery on her hand after suffering damaged ligaments to it during her fight with Larissa Pacheco at UFC 185. 

Through this, the New York crowd booed the main event as the lacklustre fight was capped off without a star being made. Holm has now lost three in a row and de Randamie said she was going away for a while and didn't set up a future fight with Cyborg.

Heading out of UFC 208, the event was certainly underwhelming and I agree with Dana White that it was a forgettable night for a number of reasons.

GDR is the first Dutch fighter to win a UFC belt since Bas Rutten. She's getting booed a bit as Rogan begins to talk to her.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 12, 2017