UFC 208 takes place on Saturday night and we’ve got our predictions for all the fights for you below.
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Main Card:
Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie
While undoubtedly a curious fight to be headlining the UFC’s first PPV of 2017, the concept of a former boxing world champion in Holm fighting a kickboxing world champion in De Randamie for the promotion’s new featherweight title is intriguing.
The more popular, well known and marketable Holm will be who the UFC would like to see emerge victorious on Saturday night, but this isn’t a great match-up for her as it’s really going to come to down to a battle of two strikers, bypassing her opponent’s weak point, which is her ground game.
On the feet ‘The Iron Lady’ De Randamie is a fearsome kickboxer with excellent technique and big power. Holm has proven to be a good kickboxer too and despite her boxing background actually favors her kicks, but while she has a number of big TKO and KO wins came against fighters with striking deficiencies who were caught out by her head kicks – whereas that’s nothing De Randamie hasn’t seen and dealt with before.
Aside from the big win over Ronda Rousey, who really played into Holm’s strengths, Holm has struggled at times to stamp her authority in her UFC fights, making heavy weather of her wins over Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau in particular.
The former 135lb champ has tremendous cardio and that could pay dividends in the later rounds, but while De Randamie might not be so agile and light on her feet, she is going to be landing the more effective, harder strikes over the course of five rounds and that will earn a win on the scorecards to become the 145lb champ.
Germaine De Randamie to win by decision.
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Anderson Silva vs. Derek Brunson
Silva takes a bit of a step down the ladder here in a less high-profile fight than he’s used to, but it’s still a potentially tricky match-up for him.
If Brunson fights the way he did last time out in his TKO loss against Robert Whittaker then he should be easy meat for Silva, who would have a field day countering him as he recklessly charged forward with his chin out and his hands low, swinging wild haymakers.
Brunson is better than that performance suggested however, as evidenced by the fact he was on a five-fight winning streak prior to that, with four of those coming by way of first round TKO.
It’s not his punching power that’s the biggest threat to Silva here (though the Brazilian legend’s chin has shown signs of weakness in recent years), but rather his wrestling game, and after his last outing I think he’ll be focusing more on that, which could shut down the former champion’s ability to do what he does best on the feet.
This could easily turn out to be another disappointing loss on Silva’s record, but he is still capable of creating moments of magic out of nowhere and the holes in Brunson’s game when he’s striking and homing in on takedown attempts leave me with just enough faith in ‘The Spider’s’ aging abilities to give him the benefit of the doubt and cautiously predict he’ll win by TKO.
Anderson Silva to win by TKO in Rd2.
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Ronaldo Souza vs. Tim Boetsch
Considering that he’s right on the verge of title contention this is a pretty favorable match-up for ‘Jacare’ that appears as if it’s been designed to keep him busy, but not put him at in too much danger.
That’s perhaps being a little unkind to a UFC veteran like Boetsch, but there is a big gulf in class between the two, and even though he has picked up back-to-back wins of late, it’s hard to forget he lost six of his eight bouts in the Octagon prior to that.
Boetsch is tough, durable and packs a punch, so ‘Jacare’ will have to respect him when engaging on the feet, but as a grappler he’s just on a completely different level and I like him to emerge with a submission win here.
Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza to win by submission in Rd2.
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Glover Teixeira vs. Jared Cannonier
Teixeira suffered a tough 13 second loss to Anthony Johnson last time out, but he had registered three wins inside the distance prior to that, so he’ll be hoping he can get right back to winning ways on Saturday night.
Cannonier is still making a name for himself and this is a big step up in competition, but he’s not a fighter Teixeira can afford to take lightly, particularly at striking range.
Teixeira is undoubtedly the more well-rounded fighter however, and perhaps it will serve him well if he’s a little gunshy after his last KO loss, as he taking Cannonier down is his safest route to victory here.
That’s not to say that Teixeira couldn’t get the better of him on the feet if he wanted to, but his wrestling prowess puts him in a good position to find a finish by ground and pound, though a submission is also a possibility.
Glover Teixeira to win by TKO in Rd2.
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Jim Miller vs. Dustin Poirier
Poirier was flying high in the UFC’s lightweight division for a while there with four wins in a row, but he came back down to earth with a bump last time out due to a KO loss against Michael Johnson.
Poirier’s chin is a bit suspect, but I don’t think Miller’s wields the kind of power that will put him in trouble, and beyond that ‘The Diamond’ is an excellent fighter capable of throwing quality offensive combos and can grapple at a high level too, showing a level of comfort wherever the fight goes.
Miller is a savvy veteran, but I think he’s going to have a hard time keeping up with the energetic Poirier’s pace and output. A late stoppage is a possibility here, but I’ll go for a solid win on the scorecards for the younger man.
Dustin Poirier to win by decision.
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Prelims: (Predicted winners in bold)
Randy Brown Vs Belal Muhammad
Phillipe Nover vs. Rick Glenn
Jarred Brooks vs. Ian McCall
Wilson Reis vs. Ulka Sasaki
Nik Lentz vs. Islam Makhachev
Ryan LaFlare vs. Roan Carneiro
