Holly Holm seeks to cement legacy and make history at UFC 208

Headlining tomorrow night’s pay-per-view (PPV) will be the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight title match-up between Holm and de Randamie.

Silva posed for pictures with Holm, another former champion who does not want her UFC career defined by one fight.

There has been plenty of criticism of the pairing in the main event of UFC 208 on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn – some of it deserved, much of it the usual complaining simply to complain.

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.

Holly Holm sits as accomplished as her opponent.

“It was just a one-sided fight just like I said”. But she wants to be known for more than that.

“I think Holly broke her” Winkeljohn said during an appearance on Submission Radio. Here I am with another opportunity to be part of another history-making thing.

There are some big-name fighters scheduled to compete, sure, but few of the bouts themselves can be fit into the tidy little narratives that sportswriters like to construct. They want to see us bang it out.

“You know when I retire from fighting, I don’t even know when that would be but, I think I am going to have to sit down somewhere and go wow, that was a insane ride”. Fresh off the biggest victory of her career, she was minutes away from defending her UFC title and setting up blockbuster bouts to close out the year. The fight went the distance and Holm lost on a decision. But Justino, who turned down offers to fight for the belt three times because she said she needed more time to make the weight, failed a drug test in December and is now in limbo. De Randamie is truly a dark horse here; and one with arguably an equally decorated background in Muay Thai compared to that of Holm in boxing. When Justino was subsequently flagged for a violation of the organization’s anti-doping policy, the bout between Holm and de Randamie fell into place. But beyond tonight, it remains to be seen what kind of a future the UFC’s newest division will have without its biggest name. Holm is a still a very risky and talented fighter, who will look to stay above.500 with a victory at UFC 208.

The 33-year-old middleweight added, “When I’m inside that octagon, it’s time to go, it’s competition”. There’s a lot of girls out there that are very tough. Former bantamweight champ, Holly Holm will face Dutch kickboxing sensation Germaine De Randamie. Holm would fall to the middle of the pack if she is unsuccessful on Saturday.

Brunson (16-4, 7-2 UFC) is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Robert Whittaker, ending his run of four straight wins by first-round knockout.

Holm, an Albuquerque, New Mexico native, is similarly focused on a positive outcome.

“I think it’s a challenge for my technique in standup”, he said. “With Miesha Tate, I was winning until I got choked out”.

“My streak is gone, so it’s time to build another one”, said Brunson. “I try to keep everything in perspective, and I try to be a good person in and outside”.

“I don’t want another loss”.

Also on the card, veteran Anderson Silva returns to the UFC middleweight division to take on Derek Brunson as a +125 underdog on the UFC 208 betting lines.