Why You Must Watch UFC 208

It's a month into the new year and the UFC is ready for its first pay-per-view!
It’s a month into the new year and the UFC is ready for its first pay-per-view!

By Kyler Kuehler

UFC 208 will be this Saturday and is scheduled as the first pay-per-view of the year. With how the card is lined up it really looks to be a stacked card and that is why I am here to tell you why not to miss this event when it goes down Saturday night.

Now there are plenty of fights to fill up the Fight Pass and Preliminary cards, which are pretty good, but I want you to understand why you need to watch the main card afterward.

First off, the card will open with a lightweight fight, which has always been popular with fans and what better than to have two strikers with the different ground game go head to head. With a jiu-jitsu specialist like Dustin Poirier going up against a wrestler like Jim Miller is a great match that looks to be underrated, but when looking closer at the statistics it becomes clear that both of these two athletes leave nothing on the table as they strive to make another statement. I mean, who does not love watching a jiu-jitsu specialist and a wrestler go at it since they are two of the best ground techniques in the sport and to see who can use their style more accurately just adds more hype to the fight.

To make things better the light heavyweight matchup afterward also contains two heavy hitters looking to make a statement. Glover Teixeira is on the road to make a comeback after a 13 second knockout loss to number one contender Anthony Johnson and even though he might not have ever held gold in any company he still is a fun fighter to watch as he has proven time and time again just how deadly of a striker he is to the rest of the division. His opponent Jared Cannonier is a new contender to the company that is looking to make a name for himself and he gives this fight more excitement to watch all because he is new to the company. Why is because he is heading into this fight as a major underdog and if he were to pull off a win over a top contender like Teixeira already fans would be introduced to a major upset of the year and only help them get more pumped on what the rest of the year will bring in upsets.

Now moving on to the middleweights we are given two fights with the first consisting of Ronaldo Souza and Tim Boetsch, which looks to be a possible title eliminator. Souza has shown such great athleticism and fans have come to love him, but yet he still manages to get overlooked. With this matchup, he could prove to the entire world why he is the biggest threat to the middleweight division with his striking power and intense ground game. At the same time, this could be another fight to cause an upset as Boetsch is really not considered to be a big threat and looks to be an easy win for Souza, but if he somehow managed to pull this off he too could get fans pumped for the remainder of the card as well as the rest of the year. Either way, this fight is going to make this entire card worthwhile.

The next middleweight fight is the co-main event between former champion Anderson Silva and Derek Brunson that is sure to be a fight not to miss as this will be another must-win fight on the card. Silva is on a two fight loss and now looks to redeem himself by putting on an epic performance to show fans around the world why he is still the best to ever compete in the sport. Even the fact Silva is on the card gives it more meaning for one to not want to miss this card as he has always been a fighter people have loved to watch even when the odds are stacked against him. Then there is the possibility of Brunson finally having his moment as he is striving to get back on the winning path and what better way to do so than a win over the former champion that would not only move him up massively on the leader board but earn him a possible title shot. What about that, another upset on the card…? It may happen, which just gives the card more tension to make people not want to miss the action that will take place.

Then finally, there is the main event itself that will introduce the newest division to the roster, which will be the women’s featherweight division. In this final fight of the evening will not only give fans their first title fight of the year but also crown a new champion indeed as former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm will look to make a comeback against a well-rounded striker like herself, Germaine de Randamie. With this fight consisting of two strikers, with almost identical style this fight looks to be a possible ‘Fight of the Night’ candidate that could very well open the new division to great lengths right away and cause Dana White and the rest of the UFC to bring more female fighters in to show what all the featherweight division has to offer fans. I mean, women fighters are indeed some of the best fighters in the sport and they deserve to have just as much opportunity so that only makes this fight much more intense to watch as fans will know it will open the door for a wave of new contenders looking to make themselves known to the rest of the world.

From top to bottom it now becomes clear why no one should miss out on this stacked to the core card that will bring intense fights and extraordinary athleticism to the fullest.

In the words of Bruce Buffer, “IT’S TIME!”