ANAHEIM, CA - JULY 29: Cris Cyborg of Brazil reacts to defeating Tonya Evinger during their Featherweight Title fight at UFC 214 at Honda Center on July 29, 2017 in Anaheim, California.
The big end-of-year UFC featherweight championship fight has been set.
Holly Holm and Cris “Cyborg” Justino will face off at UFC 219 in Las Vegas on Dec. 30.
The 145-pound title matchup was announced Thursday. It remains unknown whether they bout will serve as the main pay-per-view event, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena.
Former champion Ronda Rousey is still inactive, thus the Justino-Holm fight will surely be the most anticipated fight in women’s mixed martial arts. Holm famously defeated Rousey in Nov. 2015 to end the juggernaut’s unbeaten streak.
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Justino (18-1) has earned 16 of her 18 victories by knockout, including nine within the first round. The lethal 32-year-old Brazilian — who now fights out of Southern California — made her UFC debut in May 2016. She claimed the UFC’s featherweight championship in July, knocking out Tonya Evinger in the third round at UFC 214.
Cyborg — who said in September that she would be willing to fight Rousey, although in a WWE ring — also recently signed a new deal with the UFC:
Holm (11-3) is a former boxing champion and UFC bantamweight champion, the title she earned when she defeated Rousey.
Holm, 36, is fighting out of JacksonWink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is coming off a third-round knockout of Bethe Correia in June. This will mark her second UFC featherweight title fight, coming after her loss via decision to Dutch fighter Germaine de Randamie in the inaugural title at UFC 208 in February. Holm is the same height (5 foot 8) as Justino, though around 11 pounds lighter (134 pounds).
ANAHEIM, CA – JULY 29: Cris Cyborg of Brazil reacts to defeating Tonya Evinger during their Featherweight Title fight at UFC 214 at Honda Center on July 29, 2017 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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