This Saturday, focus turns to the Barclay Centre in Brooklyn, New York for UFC 208 where the card is stacked full of fighters looking for redemption whilst hoping they can leave behind a disappointing 2016.
Who will claim the inaugural UFC Womens Featherweight belt?
A fighter looking to bounce back from a poor 2016 is former female bantamweight champion Holly Holm; UFC will crown its first female featherweight champion at UFC 208 when Holm faces off against Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural UFC 145lb title on Saturday night.
Holm quickly rose through the ranks and burst onto the UFC scene holding a record 10-0 that included the spectacular upset “Knockout of the Year” win over female MMA pioneer Ronda Rousey to claim the UFC bantamweight title. However, she now finds herself entering UFC 208 on the back of two disappointing defeats following a 2016 to forget; firstly losing her title to the now-retired Miesha Tate in her first title defence before being convincingly beaten by Valentino Shevchenko.
Although Holm lands a respectable 3.08 strikes per minute, it could be said she lacks power strikes to really shock her opponent despite her KO victory against Rousey. In her last bout, Shevchenko prevented Holm from landing many strikes simply by circling and stepping back when Holm looked to engage. The 35-year old was made to look rather robotic during their bout throwing predetermined combinations without setting them up correctly.
UFC 208 is the perfect fight to get Holm back in the win column whilst also becoming the first-ever female fighter to hold belts in multiple divisions. The former champion may look to break new ground and attempt to outwrestle de Randamie if she has little success on the feet. Despite losing her bantamweight title she now has the chance to once again claim UFC gold and perhaps set up a dual-title fight against bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes who has already shown interest in the idea. If Holm is successful then this fight could pave the way for a monumental year in her career.
Is it time for Anderson Silva and the ceremonial passing of the torch?
In the co-main event, the highly-regarded “Greatest of all-time” Anderson Silva is looking to redeem himself having struggled to pick up a win since 2013. Silva is another fighter who was unable to secure a win last year losing firstly to current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 84 in London and then to light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 200. Silva has continued to go up against the elite fighters in the UFC despite being unsuccessful in the last few years. Now a different task is at hand for “The Spider,” Derek Brunson is a rising star in the middleweight division and is 7-2 under the promotional banner with his two losses coming against title challenger Yoel Romero in 2014 and Robert Whittaker in his most recent fight at UFC Fight Night 101.
Both men will be looking to secure a victory on Saturday and revive their title aspirations or at least put themselves in contention. Silva now has the chance to show why he deserves to still be classed as one of the top contenders in the division whilst derailing the hype train of Brunson. Although a win this weekend will not make up for his results of recent years, it will certainly be a positive start to the year whilst setting himself on the road to redemption and potentially one more run at the title.
Can Teixeira recover and enter LHW contention once more at UFC 208
Glover Teixeira is a man who will want to forget about 2016, more specifically the latter stages of the year; that’s if Anthony Johnson didn’t knock the memory right out of him. The Brazilian met ‘Rumble’ Johnson at UFC 202 in which he lasted only 13 seconds before being on the receiving end of a crushing uppercut which sent him to the mat and one of his teeth up in the air. After being on the receiving end of one of the ‘knockouts of the year’, Glover will be determined to get back to winning ways and put on a performance against Jared Cannonier. The Texan born Cannonier, who fights out of Alaska, holds a respectable career record of 9-1 but has never faced someone of Glover’s caliber. This is a good opportunity for the 37-year-old to wipe people’s recent memories of him whilst maybe securing a highlight reel finish of his own.
Dustin Poirier will be hoping to leave emotions outside the Octagon
Despite having a perfect start to 2016 defeating Joseph Duffy and Bobby Green, Dustin Poirier finds himself entering this weekend’s bout against Jim Miller hoping to put himself back in the win column. Poirier is a man who can let his emotions get the better of him, which has already proved costly in his career, such as his first round TKO loss against Michael Johnson in his last bout. When Poirier is unable to stay on top of his emotions, he throws little caution to the wind, sometimes disregarding the need for defence. However, Poirier has proved when he keeps his emotions separate he can compete with some of the best. Miller might not be the most deadly opponent in the division but he is a UFC veteran who knows how to grind out a win and is entering this fight full of confidence and currently riding a three-fight win streak.
