The all-Brazilian champ vs. champ UFC showdown is now a done deal.
The UFC’s next champ vs. champ booking is complete.
Women’s featherweight titleholder Cris Cyborg is set to defend her title against bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. ESPN reported the news on Wednesday, and an official announcement is imminent.
Cyborg (20-1, 1 NC) is undoubtedly the greatest woman’s 145er of all-time, and arguably the best ever women’s mixed martial artist. She’s won titles in Strikeforce, Invicta, and the UFC, with her most recent title defense vs. Yana Kunitskaya ending in a first-round TKO at UFC 222. Cyborg captured the belt vacated by Germaine de Randamie when she stopped Tonya Evinger at UFC 214, then defended it by unanimous decision against Holly Holm at UFC 219. With her contract set to expire soon, Cyborg has hinted that this might be her last UFC appearance.
Nunes (16-4) is on a seven-fight winning streak, having claimed UFC gold from Miesha Tate at UFC 200 in July 2016. She’s since defended the title three straight times, including a fifth-round TKO of Raquel Pennington in the UFC 224 main event in her home country. Nunes started her career at featherweight before dropping down to 135 lbs in her eighth professional bout. This will be her opportunity to join Daniel Cormier and Conor McGregor as the only simultaneous two-division champions in UFC history.
No other fights have been booked for UFC 232, which will take place on Saturday, December 29th. There’s also no word yet on whether or not Cyborg vs. Nunes will serve as the pay-per-view main event.