Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate believes that Holm has the best shot to defeat Cyborg.
“Of anybody that I can think to fight Cyborg to right now, that has the best chance, I honestly, truly believe that it is Holly,” said Tate on MMA Tonight. “The reason I say that is, if Cyborg can’t get ahold of Holly, if she recklessly chases her down - similar to how Ronda did, not using the correct angles - if she follows her like a missile - which she does in every fight I’ve ever seen before, that’s how she hunts girls down because she can - with holly, that’s not a good idea. She can cut through those angles. She’s an amazing counter striker and if she lands that head kick, I think she can put anybody away. So stylistically, this makes for a really, really interesting fight.”
Tate and Holm have fought before, with Tate submitting Holm to win the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title at UFC 196. The former women’s bantamweight champion also believes Holm’s speed advantage over Cyborg can present some issues.
“If Cyborg gets ahold of her and throws her down to the ground, obviously Holly’s in trouble. She’s in big trouble. But I can truly attest to how amazing Holly’s footwork is and just how difficult she is to get ahold of, how hard it is to do that. You really have to throw everything to the wayside just to try to grab her. I think I got two takedowns on her in our five rounds and I’m smaller. I think I’m a little speedier than Cyborg is even. Cyborg’s really, really strong but she’s not necessarily the fastest woman in the world. She doesn’t tend to shoot a lot out in the open so I think to press Holly against the cage or to overwhelm Holly is going to be a difficult task, I really do,” says Tate.
UFC 219 takes place on Saturday, December 30 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with no main event announced at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
