There are a few different claimants to the throne of woman’s MMA GOAT. Amanda Nunes is right there. Ditto Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Ronda Rousey, if you must. But the front-runner now—and probably for a good long time before—is Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino.
In May 2016, following protracted and well-documented acrimony with UFC brass and others like them, Cyborg finally tore open the door to the Octagon and laid waste to the only three ladies with the courage to face her. Cyborg stayed in character with a first-round TKO, a second-round TKO and a third-round TKO, the last of which rendered her the first UFC women’s featherweight champion.
The 32-year-old is now 18-1-1, her only defeat coming in her 2005 debut. Throughout her decade-plus career, though, she’s had trouble finding willing opponents.
Outside the obvious ducking issue, one problem is her natural fighting weight, between 140-145 pounds, where there is an acute shortage of able bodies.
Saturday at UFC 219, Cyborg will face her most able challenger in years, and certainly of her UFC era.
Holly Holm is a former UFC and boxing champ with a penchant for felling giants—everyone remembers her head kick on Rousey. Her 1-3 record since, though, touched off a slide down the rankings and an arguably undeserved Buster Douglas complex.
Does she find magic again, or does Cyborg take on more the shape of a GOAT?
Meanwhile, the co-main event sees lightweight sensation Khabib Nurmagomedov continue a halting ascent to title contention against one of the UFC’s best strikers in Edson Barboza.
This is a good card, and it’s just what fight fan need to shake off the holiday doldrums. Get up to speed with the complete guide to UFC 219.
Betting odds accurate as of Wednesday night and courtesy of OddsShark.