Holly Holm challenged Ultimate Fighting Championship‘s reigning women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg at “UFC 219” at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, United States on December 30, 2017. Had the challenger won, she would have been the second fighter to beat Cyborg in a professional mixed martial arts bout and the first UFC fighter to do so.
But the stars did not align for Holm. After five 5-minute rounds, the title bout ended at via unanimous decision in favor of the reigning UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion.
It was the main event of the evening. In the co-main event, Dagestiani MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov maintained his undefeated record after defeating his Brazilian opponent Edson Barboza Jr. via unanimous decision.
Holm now holds a professional MMA record of 11 wins and 4 losses. Cyborg now has 19 wins, 1 losses and 1 No Contest.
Cyborg made her professional MMA debut on May 17, 2005 at “Show Fight 2”. She lost via kneebar submission to her Brazilian opponent Erica Paes.
After the loss, Cyborg went on to enjoy a long winning streak. She defeated 18 opponents including Hiroko Yamanaka although the result was eventually overturned, making it a No Contest.
Before joining the UFC, Cyborg held the Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Championship and the Invicta FC World Featherweight Championship belts. She made a successful UFC debut on May 14, 2016 at “UFC 198” by knocking out Leslie Smith via punches.
On September 24, 2016, Cyborg defeated her second UFC opponent. She knocked out Lina Lansberg via punches.
Tonya Evinger is the third UFC fighter to face Cyborg. The latter knocked out the former via knees at “UFC 214” on July 29, 2017.
CONAN Daily 