Derek Brunson is taking Anderson Silva deadly serious ahead of their match

In Saturday’s UFC 208 main event, former bantamweight champion Holly Holm (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and Germaine de Randamie (7-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) square off for the promotion’s inaugural women’s featherweight title.

Rousey’s reign in the 135-pound weight class lasted until November 2015, when Holm stunned the longtime champ with a knockout victory. But de Randamie will carry plenty of fighting experience into the Octagon after compiling a 46-0 record in Muay Thai, including 30 knockouts. Besides that, she is also an accomplished boxer with 33 wins and two losses.

“I have accomplished things that I couldn’t have in my wildest dreams believe that I did these things”, de Randamie said. “I fought the best female fighters in the world in three different weight divisions”.

“I think Holly broke her” Winkeljohn said during an appearance on Submission Radio. “I watched all his fights”. Holm has proven to be a good kickboxer too and despite her boxing background actually favors her kicks, but while she has a number of big TKO and KO wins came against fighters with striking deficiencies who were caught out by her head kicks – whereas that’s nothing De Randamie hasn’t seen and dealt with before. At bantamweight, Holm’s long frame allows her to pepper opponents from the outside while de Randamie’s power is more explosive. “The Iron Lady” was nothing if not destructive that night, marching forward and landing some of the more vicious strikes any woman (sans Cris “Cyborg”) has ever connected with inside the Octagon. It should create a flawless matchup with Holm, a former world-champion boxer.

Time and time again we have seen highly talented fighters drown under the bright lights and packed out arenas in the biggest fights. My goal right now is to go out there and win this fight and have a good fight, but it’s a good partnership.

While the bout came together on short notice, leaving Brunson limited time to prepare for a date with the long-time middleweight champion, the chance to share the cage with “The Spider” and bounce back by beating arguably the greatest fighter of all-time has the charismatic middleweight contender excited heading into this weekend’s event. “I want to know what their best strengths are, and I want to take those away from them”.

“Of course I talked to my family – I talk to my sons and my wife – because, you know, it’s family”, he said of his decision to continue on despite entering Saturday’s contest with Brunson as the underdog and his last victory coming against Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153. “I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ That was it”. “They are going to make us look like amateurs by the time they’re at the point we are”.

“There are things she does better, for sure”, Holm said.

Las fall, UFC president Dana White, frustrated with how negotiations fared for a potential fight between Holm and Justino, yanked the offer to Justino and gave it instead to the less-heralded de Randamie. “I know what I did wrong”.

Meanwhile, Holm has her own resurrection to manage, admitting, “I’m in a place I’ve never been”. “I want to win this fight, for sure”.

When Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche battled in the first women’s fight in UFC history, there was skepticism the division could survive.

For now, Anderson is waiting upon a call from the UFC and plotting her next move in the belief that a UFC title shot is in her neat future. “But guess what? Here we are”. One extra pound is allowed in non-title fights.