Fight Week - UFC 208 Preview

By Muk

The UFC's first PPV card of 2017 is just a few days away, and this UFC 208 card will be a historical one for women's MMA. UFC 208 will feature Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie, facing off for the first ever UFC Women's Featherweight Championship.

The UFC's addition of the 145-pound division for female fighters has been a long time coming in the eyes of many, as the greatest female MMA fighter on the planet, Cris Cyborg, has traditionally competed at the 145-pound level and the UFC's lack of a division for her to compete in has made for big issues in locking her in as a full-time UFC fighter. Although this fight is not featuring Cyborg, everyone knows that she should, and will compete, and reign supreme, as the Featherweight Champion by the end of 2017 (hopefully).

This fight marks the first time in Holly Holm's professional career, boxing, kickboxing and MMA, that she is coming off of two straight losses, so while to some her chance to once again become a UFC champion seems strange, she is still one of the top fighters in the world, and has the ability to compete at the higher weight class. de Randamie on the other hand, has only lost once in the last 5 years, and that one loss came at the hands of none other than Bantamweight Champion, Amanda Nunes. Both of these women are incredible fighters, and would make a great inaugural featherweight champ, and I fully expect this fight to finish with a knockout. Holly & Germaine both love to throw strikes, and are both really, really good at it as well.

The rest of UFC 208 has some great fights, specifically, Anderson Silva vs. Derek Brunson, which will be an incredible fight in my opinion, and I expect both these men to come to throw bombs. Anderson is looking to make one last push to reclaim the title that should realistically be called the "Anderson Silva Middleweight Championship Belt", and Derek Brunson is looking to rebound from the TKO loss he suffered at the hands of Robert Whittaker. Both men are top contenders in a very confusing, and stagnant division, but with Michael Bisping vs. Yoel Romero on the horizon, the rest of the middleweight division needs to do what they can to place themselves at the top of the food chain. 

UFC 208 will also feature top middleweight challenger, Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza vs. Tim Boetsch, in a fight that has many people scratching their heads. Souza is expected to be the next in line for the title shot after Bisping & Romero fight this summer, but a fight against Boetsch is a lose-lose for Souza. He is expected to beat Boetsch, so a win won't propel him any further into the title picture, and if he does lose to Boetsch, he has basically removed himself for the title picture for what could be a long time. A lot of pressure on Jacare coming into this fight, but a strong win from him could potentially put him at ease as he will expect, and assume, the next title shot at 185-pounds.

This card should be a good one from start to finish, with a strong main card and a big championship fight to finish it off, I am personally always excited for any card that features the Greatest Ever, Anderson Silva. 
So because I have been on an Anderson hype-train lately, lets watch some highlights.