Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino set to defend belt at UFC 219 in Las Vegas
UFC 219 officially has a title bout.
Whether it eventually serves as the main event remains to be determined.
Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino will make the first defense of her women’s featherweight title against former bantamweight champion Holly Holm on the card at T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 30, UFC officials confirmed to the Review-Journal on Thursday.
It’s still possible another headlining bout could be added to the card.
There has been speculation Tyron Woodley could defend the welterweight belt against Nate Diaz. Rumors have also swirled about a potential return for lightweight champion Conor McGregor, though the possibility has become less likely after McGregor entered the cage at at Bellator MMA show last week and made contact with an official.
Justino, long considered the top 145-pound female fighter in the world, captured the vacant belt with a knockout of Tonya Evinger in July.
Holm won the bantamweight belt by knocking out Ronda Rousey in November 2015. She lost the belt to Miesha Tate in her next fight and also dropped a featherweight title bout against Germaine de Randamie in February before knocking out Bethe Correia in June to work her way back into contention.
UFC 219 also features a lightweight contender bout between Edson Barboza and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
