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Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino, Amanda Nunes to meet at UFC 232 in Las Vegas

Updated August 22, 2018 - 7:39 pm

The longest reigning current female champions in the UFC will square off in Las Vegas this year.

Featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino, long considered the top pound-for-pound female in the organization, will defend her title against bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 on Dec. 29 at T-Mobile Arena.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout to ESPN on Wednesday.

Justino, who is 5-0 in the UFC and has won 20 straight fights since dropping her professional debut in 2005, captured the 145-pound belt with a knockout of Tonya Evinger in July 2017 and has successfully defended it twice.

Nunes, who like Justino is a native of Brazil who now lives and trains in the United States, won the 135-pound title in July 2016 with a victory over Miesha Tate. Nunes’ three title defenses include a win over former champ Ronda Rousey in December 2016.

The bout has been discussed for almost a year, and Justino was hoping to make it happen sooner than the UFC’s traditional year-end pay-per-view card. She last fought in March.

Nunes, who fought in May, has pushed for more time to properly prepare to move up a division. She last competed at featherweight in 2011, two years before she entered the UFC.

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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.

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