The UFC on FOX 8 event will be upon us this Saturday night from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, and UFC flyweight Demetrious Johnson will look to defend his title against challenger John Moraga.
In the co-main event two welterweights will collide when Rory MacDonald takes on heavy hitter Jake Ellenberger. It should be a very good FREE event with preliminary action airing on Facebook beginning at 4 pm. ET, and then moving to FX at 5 p.m. ET before the main card begins at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. Let’s take a look at the top five questions heading into the event.
Will the UFC on FOX 8 event average at least 3 million viewers?
The last time Johnson fought he was headlining the UFC on FOX 6 event in January which garnered 4.4 million viewers while topping out at 5.2 million viewers during his main event bout with John Dodson. However, that event was heavily promoted during the NFL playoffs and was considerably more loaded with star power than the UFC on FOX 8 event has thus far. The UFC on FOX 7 event was able to pull 3.7 million viewers with no promotion from NFL games, but it also had a little more star power than this UFC on FOX 8 event. If this event hits the 3 million mark or better it would have to be considered a definitely success.
Will the winner Rory MacDonald/Jake Ellenberger bout get the next title shot in the welterweight division?
Interesting storylines in this one. If GSP loses to Johny Hendricks later this year he would more than likely receive an immediate rematch. However, if GSP retains the title it would be interesting to see if he would fight his training partner in Rory MacDonald. GSP seems like he wants no part of that fight in past interviews because of the time they have spent together training. However, the more MacDonald gets asked about it, the more he seems open to the idea of fighting for the title regardless of who is holding the belt. If Ellenberger gets past MacDonald, it would make it three consecutive wins and eight out of his last nine since losing to former interim champion Carlos Condit in his UFC debut (that he took on short notice). Both fighters would have the credibility to have earned a title shot, but it probably depends moreso on if GSP retains the title or not.
Which female MMA fight will steal the show on Saturday night?
Liz Carmouche will be returning to the Octagon for the first time since losing her debut in inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight title fight at UFC 157. She’ll be taking on newcomer Jessica Andrade who in nine wins has finished every single one of those opponents. The other female fight will consist of two women making their UFC debuts when MMA veteran Julie Kedzie takes on Germaine de Randamie. Kedzie has almost 30 career fights since launching her career in 2004. De Randamie has five career fights but both fighters will be looking to make a name for themselves in their UFC debut.
Will Melvin Guillard stave off the UFC cut list by defeating Mac Danzig on Saturday night?
Guillard is one of the most physically gifted lightweights in the world, but seemingly always makes terrible mistakes against the top lightweights in the world. He has lost two fights in a row and four of his last five fights. Danzig is exactly the type of fighter that Guillard should run through but ultimately loses to on most occasions due to careless mental errors. Let’s see if he has learned anything over the past seven months since losing to Jamie Varner at UFC 155.
Will Robbie Lawler continue to cement himself as a legitimate welterweight threat on Saturday night?
Lawler returned to the welterweight division in impressive fashion when he knocked out former title contender Josh Koscheck in his return to Octagon at UFC 157. Lawler was heavy underdog in that bout, and was rewarded with the opportunity to face the final Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine. However, Saffiedine had to pull out of the bout with an injury. Saffiedine was then replaced with Siyar Bahadurzada, but then he was almost pulled from the card due to an injury. Lawler will be taking on Bobby Voelker who is coming off a loss against Patrick Cote at UFC 158. Voelker gave Cote all he could handle in the loss and is tough as nail. An impressive win for Lawler could put him in line to face the winner of the MacDonald/Ellenberger fight if GSP is derailed by Hendricks later this year and given the immediate rematch.
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