UFC 287: 10 reasons to watch
7. The rise of a new bantamweight contender
The UFC's bantamweight division is one of the most stacked weight classes in all of MMA, regardless of the promotion. The rankings reflect exactly how deep the 135-pound division is and whenever two top bantamweights decide to throw down, it has often delivered with some of the best fights in recent UFC history.
A man hoping to stake his claim in the shark-infested division is loud-mouthed and no. 12 ranked Adrian Yanez. He comes into this fight riding a nine-fight win streak, and his UFC record is a perfect 5-0, with four of those wins coming by way of knockout. Momentum might be fully on his side but he shouldn't look past the no. 6 ranked Rob Font.
A man many thought would eventually fight for a title, it has not gone so smoothly for Font in his recent fights. There is no shame in losing to Jose Aldo or Marlon Vera, however, Font seemed lightyears behind his opponents in all facets of his game. A loss here will see him drop his third straight contest and potentially label him as a gatekeeper whilst giving Yanez the biggest win of his career, and a hefty rise up the rankings.
8. Is this the last time we see Jorge Masvidal in the octagon?
One of the biggest talking points since the announcement of this event and the subsequent release of the card has been the return of the 'King of Miami', Jorge Masvidal. The last time we saw Masvidal in the ring was when he was dominated by his friend-turned-foe Colby Covington back at UFC 272.
Since then, he's sucker-punched Covington, been on the Joe Rogan Experience, and has stated that he plans to make another run at the title, this time putting an end to his rivalry with champion Leon Edwards.
That is of course, if he can get past Gilbert Burns. Burns is coming off a dominant win over Neil Magny and could find similar success on the ground against Masvidal. Whilst not many people would be shocked to see Burns win (the odds list him as a -490 favorite), it appears it would signal the end of one of the UFC's most iconic fighters.
Masvidal stated that a win should be enough to fight Edwards, however, he also announced that a loss to Burns would probably signal the end of his career as he doesn't see a straight line to the title, according to the UFC 287 countdown video.
Whether this is is true or not remains to be seen but one thing is for sure. You don't want to be the person who missed Masvidal's last fight (potentially!).