With the conclusion of this past weekend’s online UFC betting action, those who bet on MMA can begin to look forward to UFC 208 and its star studded cast. Even though McGregor has been dominating headlines amongst the MMA sportsbook community, UFC 208’s main card might be enough to take the attention off of an unconfirmed, potential boxing match.
208 is the UFC’s next upcoming event to be held on Saturday, February 11th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York marking the first event the UFC has held in Brooklyn and the 4th overall that it has hosted in New York. Although 208 originally had to suffer through some rescheduling due to a lack of suitable headliners for the date, the fighters the UFC booked will guarantee that those who bet on MMA will indubitably tune in for 208.
The headlining match of the night will pin former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie in the promotional company’s inaugural UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship.
The UFC’s decision to open up a 136 lb. to 145 lb. division is the answer to the prayers of many female fighters who felt that the weight cutting they were habitually enduring was doing serious damage to their bodies. Specifically, images of Chris Cyborg suffering through intense weight-cuts come to mind. All in all, by opening up this new division, the UFC is finally doing right by its female fighters.
So, while most analysis and breakdowns of the headlining match will look at each fighter’s past performance, trying to predict who has an advantage may be difficult. Simply because neither fighter has competed at this weight (at least in the UFC) so we’ve never really seen how they perform in the Featherweight weight class. So, to help us measure each fighter, let’s check on the sportsbook odds both brawlers are facing.
ONLINE UFC BETTING – UFC 208 – Saturday, February 11th
Germaine De Randamie 4½ (-130) -120
Holly Holm 4½ (+110) EV
Interestingly enough, despite the fact that she’s a former champion, Holm is still coming into this match as a slight underdog. Holm, who is on a 2-fight losing streak, will be coming into this match looking to prove that she still has plenty of fuel in the can. ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ last stepped into the cage at UFC on Fox 20 back in July 23rd, where she faced Valentina Shevchenko. Shevchenko won that online UFC betting bout via decision.
De Randamie will be coming into this fight on a 2-match win streak after picking up back-to-back wins against Anna Elmose and Larissa Pacheco. ‘The Iron Lady’ has a 6-3 MMA record that includes a 3-1 UFC record with her only UFC loss coming at the hands of current Women’s Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes.
While the headlining match has some serious star appeal, and even though it’s great that they’re opening up a new weight class for women in the UFC, a good deal of the hype for UFC 208 will revolve around the co-headlining match of the night. Anderson Silva, widely considered to be the UFC’s greatest fighter, will step into the cage to face off against Derek Brunson. Silva hasn’t won a fight since 2012 but there’s no doubt that there will be plenty of online UFC betting hype surrounding ‘The Spider’.
