It’s Official, Cris Cyborg Will Put Her Title on the Line Against Holly Holm at UFC 219

The Brazilian superstar will be the heavy favorite.

Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Holly Holm, the two biggest women stars in mixed martial arts, will battle at UFC 219 with the featherweight title on the line, the UFC announced Thursday.

It’s not yet clear if the December 30 fight will be the main event at the UFC’s year end finaler, but even if it isn’t, it’s going to be a barnburner. 

Given her recent dominance in the Octagon, Cyborg will go into this fight as the favorite. The Brazilian has fought three times since joining the UFC last year and she’s 3-0 with three TKOs. She hasn’t lost a fight since 2005 and remains the top female fighter in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW8OrgxcOew

That’s not to say that Holm doesn’t have a chance. Though she hasn’t had the recent success of Cyborg, Holm knows what it’s like to walk into the cage as the overwhelming underdog and to walk out with a win. In November of 2015, Holm defeated Ronda Rousey, then the biggest name in all of MMA, with a thunderous kick to the head, rocketing her to stardom. She lost her next three fights, but righted the ship in June with a knockout win over Bethe Correia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMKcxYYAzv0

It was only last week that this fight was “dead,” according to Holm’s agent, Lenny Fresquez. Financial terms reportedly could not be agreed to but the UFC re-opened negotiations this week, perhaps becuase the main event they were hoping for fell through. 

But the UFC isn’t giving up on adding another headlining fight to the card on December 30. With Conor McGregor’s bout against Tony Ferguson reportedly cancelled, it looks like Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz may mix it up in Las Vegas. The held up now is that only one of the fighters is ready. 

“Guys in our sport, bump their gums quite a bit, and they get you to think they are these huge tough guys, these gangsters,” Woodley recently told Fansided. “That they will fight anybody, anytime and then when they get in front of a person like me, the crickets start coming out and they don’t really want to fight.”

If the price is right, Diaz will probably agree to the fight, but it’s not hard to imagine why he’s hesitating.