By Hunter Homistek 

The UFC brings perhaps the most loaded Fight Night card of all time to Las Vegas Sunday with UFC Fight Night 88.

Featuring a main event between young bantamweight standouts Cody Garbrandt (8-0) and Thomas Almeida (20-0), the card promises fireworks at the top. 

Good news, fight fans. This is more than just a grand finale that bangs and flashes. The entire card is stacked. Garbrandt and Almeida certainly figure to bring the show home in spectacular fashion, but you’re going to want to pull up the lawn chair early and snag a front-row seat for this card.

Here are five reasons to watch UFC Fight Night 88 Sunday, including the Fight Pass portion of the card, which begins at 6 p.m. EST.



1. Seriously, about that Garbrandt vs. Almeida fight

Remember when the bantamweight division was basically only competitive and fun at the tippy-top? The only matchups with both casual and hardcore fan appeal were the title fights, and even then, the 135-pound division wasn’t necessarily can’t-miss TV.

Those days are gone. I talked about it in a previous article right here on FloCombat, but let’s go ahead and hammer that point home, using Garbrandt vs. Almeida as the bulk of our evidence. Each fighter is 24 years old. They’re undefeated. They take heads, boasting 23 knockouts between them in 28 fights—an 82 percent knockout rate.

They’re aggressive but technical, ferocious but refined, and the result is brilliant. You don’t ever want to miss either of these guys fight, and now they’re facing each other. That’s N-V- T-S, nuts.

This fight is going to rule, and you’re a bad MMA fan if you don’t watch it.



2. Renan Barao: Is heavier better?

Renan Barao was at once considered one of the pound-for- pound best fighters on the UFC’s roster. And it wasn’t hyperbole.

At his peak, Barao won 32 straight fights, capturing the UFC bantamweight championship and successfully defending it three times in the process. He was a monster, as Joe Rogan was quick to point out.

Then…he wasn’t. T.J. Dillashaw crushed him throughout their five-round affair at UFC 173 in May 2014, then the Team Alpha Male product did it again 14 months later. Suddenly, Barao wasn’t just beatable—he was getting straight-up demolished before our eyes.

Now, Barao returns to the cage for the first time since losing to Dillashaw at UFC on Fox 16 in July 2015. Tonight, we’ll see Barao 10 pounds heavier, taking on an animal in Jeremy Stephens at featherweight.

It’s the perfect fight to see where Barao sits at this stage in his career. Stephens possesses legitimate one-shot knockout power, and he’s fought 22 times inside the UFC Octagon. He’s a veteran fighter with finishing instincts like few others—and that could spell disaster for Barao.

Tune in tonight to see if he returns to form or if he slips further into the land of past kings.



3. There will be blood

Violence lovers, rejoice: Jorge Masvidal and Lorenz Larkin throw down during the Fox Sports 1 main card at UFC Fight Night 88.

Masvidal and Larkin are two of the slickest, sneakiest fighters on the UFC’s roster. They’re creative and technical, lacing together a variety of creative—and sometimes bizarre—strikes with ease and grace.

These two are just fun to watch, and there’s no doubt it’ll be a treat to watch them try to solve each other’s games inside the cage tonight.

Plus, each fighter is coming off a controversial split-decision loss—Masvidal against Benson Henderson and Larkin against Albert Tumenov—so expect a little extra determination to be on display when they scrap it out inside Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center.



4. Will a new bantamweight contender please stand up?

The men’s bantamweight division isn’t the only hot 135-pound class right now.

With Ronda Rousey’s death-grip on the belt released by Holly Holm’s shin at UFC 193, the women’s bantamweight title suddenly feels winnable for almost anybody in the division’s top 10.

Lining up for that chance at glory are Sara McMann and Jessica Eye, who will face off during the Fox Sports 1 prelims at UFC Fight Night 88. McMann already had her shot at the title, losing via first-round TKO to Rousey at UFC 170.

Eye, meanwhile, has never fought for UFC gold, but she’s long been considered a player in the upper echelon of the division. She’s on a two-fight losing streak, but her losses came against elite competition in Tate and Julianna Pena. They both won unanimous decisions over Eye.

Ranked No. 6 and No. 7 in the division, respectively, McMann and Eye are on the brink of contention. One big win tonight, and either fighter will be launched into title talks in the near future.



5. You might want to sign up for UFC Fight Pass, guys

Lately, the UFC’s been throwing a high-profile or high-energy bout as its Fight Pass headliner to attract subscribers. That makes a lot of sense from a business standpoint.

It makes a lot of sense for fans, too. Gone are the days when we had to wait until 8 p.m. or later for some name-value scraps. At UFC Fight Night 88, top bantamweights Aljamain Sterling and Bryan Caraway face off on UFC Fight Pass in a long-awaited matchup to separate a contender from a pretender at 135.

Sterling, at No. 4, is actually ranked higher than either Almeida (No. 7) or Garbrandt (unranked). Caraway, at No. 8, is right there, too. Like the just-mentioned fight between McMann and Eye, the winner of this fight might just have gold in his immediate future.

But wait…there’s more!

Even the UFC Fight Pass opening bout is a good one tonight, kids. Kicking off the evening’s festivities is a heavyweight showdown between Adam Milstead and Chris de la Rocha. The UFC signed Milstead in January, and now he makes his debut. Here’s why that’s fun: He’s 28 years old, and he’s won seven in a row, all via knockout or submission.

His last three fights lasted under four minutes—combined. In a division of aging giants, Milstead represents an injection of youth. If his power and athleticism carries over inside the eight-walled cage, look out.