The UFC is headed back to New York with another pay-per-view card this Saturday. UFC 208 will be held in Brooklyn and unlike UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, which was arguably the best PPV card in company history, this card could be the weakest.
The UFC created a 145 pound women’s division out of thin air and then booked Holly Holm, who is on a two fight losing streak, against Germaine de Randamie who is a solid prospect but has no big wins in the UFC. It’s the weakest main event I’ve seen on a UFC PPV of late. The main card does have some big names and some good fights for betting so it’s still a solid card from that perspective.
As always I’m going to be using the odds from BetOnline.ag for this article. Here’s our full BetOnline review for you to check out if you’re interested in opening an account and placing some bets.
Holly Holm vs Germaine de Randamie
Holm is riding a two fight losing streak and even before that her only really impressive win came over Ronda Rousey. That said, she was easily beating Miesha Tate before losing in the 5th round and then lost to a better counter striker in Valentina Shevchenko. If she can keep distance against de Randamie she has a decent shot to win this fight on points. Germaine will come forward, which could play into Holms hands. We also really don’t have a lot of information on de Randamie because her recent wins have come over weak opponents and the time she did step up her competition she was knocked out by Amanda Nunes.
Play: Holm +104
Anderson Silva vs Derek Brunson
There are a couple questions heading into this fight. First, does Anderson Silva have anything left in the tank? If he does then his counter striking style matches up perfectly against Derek Brunson who has shown a tendency to rush in and over commit to opponents. The second question is did Brunson learn from his knockout loss to Robert Whittaker where he rushed in with his head high and got knocked out.
There are pictures circulating of Brunson training while holding a tennis ball under his chin to remember to keep his chin down when throwing strikes. He has also admitted that he fought stupidly against Whittaker. Then there’s also the fact that Brunson tagged Whittaker before getting KO’d himself. If he can get his hand on Silva I think the old man will go down.
There are definitely ways that Silva can win this fight and it’s a perfect stylistic match up for him, but Brunson is the younger, faster and more powerful fighter. If he lands first he should be able to put Silva out.
Play: Brunson -135
Tim Boetsch vs Jacare Souza
I’ve heard rumblings of people giving Boetsch a shot in this fight. Yes, he does have a punchers chance because he is dangerous and aggressive on the feet, but I don’t think there’s any reason to think Souza can’t handle his aggression and turn it against him. Souza simply doesn’t get finished. He knocked out Derek Brunson who also has a very aggressive style and even Yoel Romero only beat him by split decision. Souza also TKO’d Belfort in his last fight and Vitor is notorious for his aggressiveness.
I don’t see Boetsch pulling off the upset.
Play: Souza -470
Glover Teixeira vs Jared Cannonier
The light heavyweight division is somewhat stalled and that’s because guys like Teixeira who are a level ahead of the field, but not quite at the level of Anthony Johnson, Daniel Cormier or Jon Jones.
I’m surprised Teixeira isn’t a bigger favourite in this fight with Cannonier. Cannonier has a knockout of Cyril Asker, who is a poor excuse for a UFC caliber fighter, and then beat Ion Cutelaba who was severely over touted as a prospect. This is a massive step up in competition for Cannonier and I don’t think he will be able to hang with Teixeira in any aspect of MMA.
Play: Teixeira -180
Jim Miller vs Dustin Poirier
The only way Poirier seems to lose his fights is if he gets caught. Lucky for him Jim Miller is not the type of guy who throws bombs. Poirier should be able to outclass Miller on the feet without the risk of over committing and getting knocked out.
Poirier should win this fight easily and begin a new streak up the lightweight division.
Play: Poirier -450