Germaine de Randamie will be gunning for a third straight TKO win on Saturday when she battles Holly Holm for the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight championship in the main event at UFC 208 as a narrow -125 favourite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Iron Lady needed under four minutes to end Anna Elmose’s night with a first-round TKO win at UFC Fight Night 87, paying out as -375 chalk and lifting her professional MMA record to 6-3 ahead of Saturday night’s matchup at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
de Randamie fought as a bantamweight in each of her previous three UFC clashes, including a second-round TKO win over Larissa Pacheco as a -105 underdog at UFC 185, but suffered a stunning first-round loss by TKO to Amanda Nunes as -140 chalk at UFC Fight Night 31.
But the 31-year-old has also fought at 145 pounds, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Julia Budd as a -340 favourite at Strikeforce Challengers 16 before earning the unanimous decision over Hiroko Yamanaka at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman as -135 chalk.
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Holm sits as a -105 underdog in her MMA featherweight debut. The Preacher’s Daughter stunned the MMA world with a second-round knockout victory over Ronda Rousey as a massive +525 underdog at UFC 193 to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight crown.
But Holm’s reign was quickly ended by a fifth-round loss to Miesha Tate as a -310 favourite, followed by a five-round unanimous decision loss to Valentina Shevchenko as -225 chalk at UFC on FOX 20.
Holm also fought at 145 pounds and above during an illustrious professional boxing career that featured 16 successful title defences in three different weight classes.
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.
The former UFC middleweight champion has struggled since losing his crown to Chris Weidman in a second-round KO defeat as -250 chalk at UFC 162. Silva is now winless in five octagon appearances, but has gone the distance in three straight fights.
Pegged as the No. 9 middleweight on the OddsShark MMA Fighter Rankings, Brunson takes on Silva as -155 chalk. Brunson is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Robert Whittaker as -135 chalk at UFC Fight Night 101, ending a five-fight win streak that featured four straight first-round victories.
And in another middleweight scrap, Ronaldo Souza is perched as heavy -500 chalk against Tim Boetsch, who sits as a +350 underdog, while light heavyweight Glover Teixeira is a -190 favourite against Jared Cannonier, who trails at +155.
