By pretty much any measurement, UFC 208 was not a great event. We’d even go so far as to say it was bad. Boring. Devoid of entertainment for the large majority of the show, which kicked off at 6PM with five uninspired prelim fights that went to decision and continued on until 1AM with a single stoppage on the card from Brazil’s Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza. That’s not to say a fight that goes to the judges can’t be exciting – the PPV opener between Dustin Poirier and Jim Miller was a knock down drag out war and the only other positive highlight of the night aside from Jacare.
And please don’t think this is just a single jaded sports writer saying this alone. Even UFC president Dana White expressed the same sentiment following the event. After the show, backstage reporter Megan Olivi asked him what his favorite moment of the night was. Staring off into the distance with his brow furrowed, White took a few seconds before replying “The plane ride home.”
“This was not one of our better events,” he elaborated. “I feel like when you come into a place, you’re going to have at least a few good fights that are going to get you out of your seat. We didn’t have any of those. Well, I shouldn’t say that, the Poirier-Miller fight was awesome and obviously the fight of the night. They gave everything the had and props to them for putting on a great performance tonight.”
White also criticized the main event fight between Germaine De Randamie and Holly Holm for the inaugural 145 pound women’s championship belt.
“It wasn’t the best fight I ever saw. I was hoping that the main event would deliver and erase most of the rest of the night. That didn’t happen. You know me, it’s been a long time since we’ve since we’ve had a bad show. And, well, it happens.”
That fight was a hard fought back and forth, but was largely overshadowed by controversy when De Randamie continued to fight past the bell for two consecutive rounds, hitting Holm with a hard right that wobbled her and knocked out her mouthpiece at the end of the second round. If the referee had taken a point off De Randamie for either incident, it would have changed the results of the fight to a draw.
“The only possible way this night could be any s**ttier,” White said with a laugh.
