Top women fighters to close out UFC in 2017
THE last live event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for 2017 happens this weekend with “UFC 219” in Las Vegas, headlined by the fight between top female mixed martial artists (MMA) Cris Cyborg of Brazil and Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm.
Cyborg will defend for the first time her UFC women’s featherweight title against former bantamweight champ Holm, who is seeking to make history as the first female UFC fighter to be a two- division champion, in their title clash at the T-Mobile Arena on Sunday (Manila time).
The Brazilian champion has been dominance personified in MMA, undefeated in the last 12 years en route to racking up an impressive record of 18 wins, one loss and one no contest.
She finally became a UFC champion early this year when she won the vacant featherweight title over Tonya Evinger by way of a third-round technical knockout victory (punches).
Ms. Holm (11-3), meanwhile, got back on the winning track in her last fight after losing three straight prior wherein she lost the bantamweight belt along the way.
The number two-ranked featherweight fighter defeated Bethe Correia in June by knockout in the third round to thrust herself to a title shot which she hopes to fully make use of all the way.
For local combat sports writer and observer Mike Miguel, to have Cyborg versus Holm close out 2017 will be a treat for UFC and MMA fans for they will see two fighters who are truly the best in what they do.
“Seeing today’s most dominant female inside the Octagon defending her belt against Holly Holm is a treat for the fight fans as the UFC closes out 2017,” said Mr. Miguel of RealFight. ph in an online correspondence with BusinessWorld.
“Cyborg has steamrolled her competition in the past 12 years before finally becoming a UFC champion last July. Her run alone is an unprecedented feat in the MMA world, thanks to her merciless striking and aggression that left all but two of her past opponents bloodied and battered,” he added.
But Mr. Miguel is not about to count out former UFC champ Ms. Holm, who he believes has what it takes to compete with the highly favored to win Cyborg, if not dethrone the latter altogether.
“Cyborg will face a former 135-pound champ and decorated striker in Holm, who perhaps has the best chance of pulling the rug from under her. We have to remember Holm ended the reign of erstwhile invincible Ronda Rousey two years ago and could well do the same to the equally dominant Brazilian champ,” he said.
Adding, “‘ The Preacher’s Daughter’ not only possesses the physical tools but also she is fighting under great coaches in Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn at Jackson-Wink MMA. Their guidance in coming up with a very patient strategy to counter Cyborg’s aggressive approach on offense should give Holm a good shot at pulling out an upset.”
Other fights on tap for UFC 219 are lightweight Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov (# 2) against Edson “Junior” Barboza (#4), women’s strawweight Cynthia Calvillo (# 6) versus Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza (#9), and welterweight Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit (#8) against Neil Magny (#12).
UFC 219: Cyborg vs. Holm will be shown live on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. over Hyper Ch. 91 in SD or 261 in HD on Cignal TV. Encore telecast is at 7 p.m. on the same day.
In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost directtohome ( DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms.