UFC 219 finally has its title fight.
Cris “Cyborg” Justino vs. Holly Holm for the UFC women’s featherweight title is set for the Dec. 30 card in Las Vegas, MMA Fighting has learned.
The booking ends the promotion’s long quest to find a title fight for it’s year-end show. Last week, Holm’s camp said a deal could not be reached for the fight, with Holm’s agent Lenny Fresquez going so far as to call the matchup “dead.” But after striking up negotiations once again earlier this week, all sides came to an agreement on Thursday.
Justino (18-1, 1 NC) won the vacant title in July when she defeated Tonya Evinger via third-round TKO at UFC 214. A former Strikeforce and Invicta FC champion, Justino has long been regarded as the best women’s featherweight in the world. The 32-year-old Brazilian holds an unbeaten streak that stretches back to 2005 and includes wins over Gina Carano, Marloes Coenen (x2), and Leslie Smith.
Holm (11-3) snapped a three-fight losing streak in June with a knockout of Bethe Correia. A former UFC bantamweight champion, Holm memorably ended the undefeated run of Ronda Rousey, knocking out the former UFC superstar with a highlight-reel sequence at UFC 193. The 36-year-old ex-boxer also holds UFC wins over Marion Reneau and Raquel Pennington, the latter of whom was recently expected to challenge Amanda Nunes for the women’s 135-pound title before being sidelined by injuries suffered in an ATV accident.
Holm lost her only previous foray into the UFC’s featherweight waters, suffering a controversial unanimous decision loss to Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208.
Combined, Justino and Holm are arguably the two most popular female fighters currently in the UFC.
UFC 219 is scheduled to take place at T-Mobile Arena. An updated fight card can be seen below.
- Cris Cyborg vs. Holly Holm
- Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Edson Barboza
- Jimmie Rivera vs. TBA
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
- Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
- Gokhan Saki vs. Khalil Rountree
- Matheus Nicolau vs. Louis Smolka
- Myles Jury vs. Rick Glenn
- Kamaru Usman vs. Emil Meek
- Marc Diakiese vs. Dan Hooker