UFC 219: Cyborg Vs Holm

The UFC will be closing a Phenomenal year out with another Card Of The Year Candidate as Woman’s Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg defends her belt for the first time against one of the best female mix martial artists in the world, the very dangerous Holly Holm. Since Cyborg made her debut at UFC 198 on May 14^th, 2016, she has been on a 3 fight win streak as she approaches her 4^th bout against who is arguably her toughest opponent to date. In her most recent fight against Tonya Evinger at UFC 214, Cyborg dismantled Tonya up to the 3^rd round where she finished her via TKO and won the vacant UFC Woman’s Featherweight Championship.

In her career Cyborg is 18-1 with 1 no contest, her last loss was in 2005 and she has been undefeated ever since. The no contest was a result of an overturned decision after she tested positive in 2011 for Stanozolol. Cris Cyborg is looked at as one of the most dominant and feared women in mix martial arts today but she will truly be tested by Holly Holms on December 30^th. “The Preachers Daughter” Holly Holm has been on a hard climb back up the mountain since she upset Ronda Rousey in 2015.

She has since gone 1-3 in her last 4 fights since she was the women's Bantamweight Champion. Though one of those losses was what a lot of people would consider to be a controversial one to Germaine De Randamie. She did most recently knockout Beth Correia at UFC Fight Night 111 on June 17^th earning the Performance Of The Night reward. Holly Holm is also considered to be one of the toughest women in the UFC as she holds a record of 11 wins and 3 losses (4 wins, 3 losses in UFC). She is a former Women’s Boxing Champion, as this is the ideal style to match up against Cyborg. It is a fight that will shape the division, Can Holly shake up the world again?

The Co-Main Event is a fight in the Lightweight Division between the returning #2 Ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov Vs #4 Ranked Edson Barboza. We have not seen Khabib in action in over a year due to health issues because of weight cuts. The last time we saw Khabib at UFC 205 in 2016 was when he dominated and dismantled Michael Johnson. He was scheduled to face Tony Ferguson in a long-awaited grudge match but Khabib was having a really hard time making the 155lbs weight limit causing his body to shut down, with it being so serious as the doctors letting him know he almost died. But Khabib is back and healthy, he has a new nutritionist and has been taking better care of himself as the Russian hopes to extend his undefeated streak to 25 wins and hopes to meet Ferguson after this bout.

Edson Barboza on the other hand hopes to also shake up the world with an upset over Khabib. Edson is on a 3 fight win streak with all of them being great performances. A win over Khabib could very well set up a rematch between Edson And Tony Ferguson for Tony’s Interim title if he does not eventually face off with Conor Mcgregor. Edson is easily one of the deadliest kickers in the UFC and a good placed kick could put Khabib out. But could he do it before “The Eagle” grabs him?

In the Bantamweight Division #4 Ranked Jimmie Rivera faces #5 Ranked John Lineker. Though the original bout was to be Jimmie RIvera facing #2 Ranked Dominick Cruz, Unfortunately Dominick broke his arm during training. But the 27 year old Brazilian John Lineker got the call for the chance to become the #4 ranked if he defeats El Terror Rivera. Jimmie Rivera is on a 20 fight win streak with his last losses being to Jason Mclean in 2008 and to Dennis Bermudez during The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs Team Miller. He hopes to put another win under his belt and possibly get to match #3 Raphael Assuncao or #1 ranked Cody Garbrandt. John Lineker is the replacement for the injured Cruz as he also hopes to get higher into a Top 5 spot with a win over Jimmie RIvera. John most recently defeated Marlon Vera via Unanimous Decision at UFC Fight Night 119.

#6 ranked Cynthia Calvillo is taking on #9 ranked Carla Esparza in the Woman’s Strawweight DIvision. #6 ranked Calvillo is 6-0 in her MMA career with all of her performances being impressive. She defeated Joanna Calderwood by Unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 113 and looks to proceed to 7-0 and get closer to a chance at the woman’s crown. Carla is the #9 ranked fighter in the strarweight division and she hopes to upset Cynthia and leap frog her way up the rankings as current champion Rose Namajunas sits at the top.

The “Natural Born Killer” #8 ranked Carlos Condit returns to face #11 ranked Neil Magny in the Welterweight Division. 30-10 Carlos Condit returns to make another run for the belt but since his 2012 bout with then Champion GSP, Carlos has gone 2-5. It would be nice to see him shake these losses off, especially his last one to Damian Maia. Neil Magny also is looking to shake off his most recent lost to contender Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 215 in September. A win for both of these fellas can shape the division where Tyron Woodley is the Reigning King.

The Rest of the event is looking like this:

LightWeight: Dan Hooker VS Marc Diakiese

Welterweight: Kamaru Usman VS Emil Weber Meek

Flyweight: Louis Smolka VS Matheus Nicolau

Lightweight: Myles Jury VS Rick Glenn

Middleweight: Marvin Vettori VS Omari Akhmedov

Light Heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Vs Michal Oleksiejczuk