Saturday night’s UFC 219: Cyborg vs. Holm event is headlined by the first Women’s Featherweight title defense in company history as Cris Cyborg (18-1(1) MMA; 3-0 UFC) defends against Holly Holm (11-3 MMA; 4-3 UFC). The UFC does not list rankings for this division, but they do have Cyborg at #10 pound for pound, and Holm #2 in the Bantamweight division. UFC 219: Cyborg vs. Holm airs live from Las Vegas this Saturday night, December 30. The main card airs on PPV with a fight time of 10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT, with the prelims starting at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and 7:00 p.m. ET on Fight Pass.
This is the fight the UFC has been looking to set up as a Featherweight title fight for over a year now. When the belt was debuted at UFC 208, it was assumed Cyborg would be in the inaugural title fight, but the UFC opted to put Germaine de Randamie in there instead. The Dutch fighter upset plans considerably, first by beating Holm, then by vacating the title without defending it. Cyborg claimed the vacant belt, Holm moved back up again, and here we are with the fight that makes the most sense for the division.
How do these two stack up?
Cyborg: 32 years old | 5’8″ | 68″ reach
Holm: 36 years old | 5’8″ | 70″ reach
What have these two done recently?
Cyborg: W – Tonya Evinger (TKO) | W – Lina Lansberg (TKO) | W – Leslie Smith (TKO)
Holm: W – Bethe Correia (KO) | L – Germaine de Randamie (UD) | L – Valentina Shevchenko (UD)
How did these two get here?
Cris Cyborg is a Brazilian Muay Thai wrecking machine, who has been causing havoc in the women’s division since her debut in 2005. With her extremely physical style she is unlike most other female fighters. In 2011, her career took a bad turn when she failed a drug test. She’s 8-0 since winning first the Invicta and then UFC Featherweight titles. Cyborg remains a violent striker, but over the years has developed a more technical and, at times, patient approach to temper that whirlwind of violence.
Holly Holm is a highly decorated boxing world champion who made the switch to MMA in 2011. A long-time Mike Winklejohn trainee, Holm took to MMA very well, culmintaing in her huge upset win over Ronda Rousey in 2015. At the end of that night, Holm was undefeated, the world champion who had toppled Rousey, and was on top of the world. Her time since has not been as good, as she’s gone 1-3 and been outstruck by first Shevchenko then de Randamie. She’s currently on a 2 fight losing streak in title fights – if she can turn that around, she’ll become the first woman in MMA history to win major world titles in two weight classes.
Why should you care?
This should be a good striking battle between two high end fighters. Plus Cyborg = violence, so that’s always a plus.