UFC 287: 10 reasons to watch
5. Raul Rosas Jr. continues his quest to become the youngest UFC champion
The dream for every MMA fighter is to one day hold a prestigious world title, and most would argue that nowadays, no MMA title holds as much weight as the UFC's. Some fighters have gone their whole storied careers without ever lifting a belt whilst others waited until the twilight stage of it to finally hold the elusive championship. It seems that Raul Rosas Jr. has his sight set on sooner rather than later as he focuses on becoming the youngest UFC champion ever.
Aged just 18 years and 63 days old, Rosas Jr. became the youngest fighter to compete and win their UFC debut back in UFC 282 in December. Not only did the win, which was aired during the pay-per-view portion of the event, continue the undefeated start to his career but he also managed to get even more hype behind him after finishing it in the very first round. From all the talented fighters aiming to break Jon Jones' record for youngest UFC champion at 23 years old, Rosas Jr. is definitely the one with the best chance to do it simply because he's got one thing the others don't.
He's got a whole lot of time to do it.
6. A sneaky 'Fight of the Night' contender
Everyone's attention is focused on the colossal main event between the two arch-rivals who meet for a fourth time across two different combat sports. The rest of fans' eyes are turned towards the return of one of the UFC's biggest stars in Jorge Masvidal against another fan-favorite who is always up for a scrap in Gilbert Burns. However, the 'Fight of the Night' is surely going to be Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio.
Despite neither men having much to gain from this victory other than more fanfare, there's a reason why the UFC placed this fight in the main card and not the prelims. Holland has long been one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC roster both inside and outside the octagon, racking up a total of six performance bonuses. His opponent is no stranger to exciting fights, having also earned six performance bonuses and a total of 16 knockouts in his professional career.
Anything other than a kickboxing match would be surprising given the style the two like to impose on their opponents. If it does go all the way, don't be surprised to hear both fighters walked away with an extra $50K bonus.