There is nothing wrong with Jose Aldo and Max Holloway headlining UFC 218 for the featherweight title.
The two are likely to bring down the house just like Holloway and Edgar would have in the original main event.
But as tends to be the case, the actual “People’s Main Event” is hardly ever the headline act – especially on a pay-per-view card.
And UFC 218 is no different.
In fact, the four other planned main card bouts for Saturday are all strong contenders for that honor, but we have to pick just one.
Lightweights Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje have both been champions in other promotions, with Alvarez also holding the UFC title for a short time. Now, we get to see these two recent Ultimate Fighter coaches square off in what could be a key bout in the division rankings.
Alvarez, a former Bellator champion, fought Dustin Poirier this past May to a no-contest after the fight was stopped in the second round due to illegal knees. Prior to that, he dropped the belt to Conor McGregor a few months after winning it with a first round finish of Rafael dos Anjos.
The veteran also holds career wins over the likes of Anthony Pettis, Gilbert Melendez, Michael Chandler, Shinya Aoki, Pat Curran and Roger Huerta.
Gaethje, meanwhile, makes his second appearance inside the Octagon after debuting in July with a second round finish vs. Michael Johnson. The showing earned him both “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night” bonuses.
A former World Series of Fighting champion, Gaethje has yet to taste defeat over 18 fights, earning wins over Johnson, Brian Foster, Melvin Guillard and Nick Newell.
So while you are likely to tune in Saturday for Holloway-Aldo, know that the UFC has put together a worthy pay-per-view that also includes Alvarez-Gaethje, Alistair Overeem vs. Francis Ngannou, Henry Cejudo vs. Sergio Pettis and kicks off with Tecia Torres vs. Michelle Waterson.
