Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm was looked at as one of the highest-level women's MMA fights in history at UFC 219, with the UFC Featherweight Championship and a major addition to the winner's legacy at stake.
To the victor go the spoils, and on this night, Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg was spoiled. She outstruck Holly Holm while detecting patterns in her footwork and striking on the way to a unanimous decision victory in the first successful defense of her UFC Featherweight Championship.
You can see an excerpt from our live coverage below.
Round Five: The round begins with Holm kicking Cyborg in the midsection, Holm starts nailing Cyborg with striking combinations. Cyborg starts nailing Holm with a ton of leg kicks, Cyborg grabs Holm and holds her against the cage wall. Holm spins Cyborg and gets her against the cage wall, the fighters separate and Cyborg swings away at Holm. Cyborg again catches Holm with a kick to the midsection, Holm attempts a few high kicks against Cyborg. Cyborg pops a kicking Holm with a counter right hook, Holm responds by nailing Cyborg with a left before eating a body kick. Cyborg starts catching Holm with a plethora of rights, Holm backs up Cyborg with a few kicks to the midsection. Cyborg nails a swinging Holm with a counter right hook, Holm comes forward and she swings away at Cyborg. Cyborg stuns a swinging Holm with a counter right hook, Holm continues catching Cyborg with lefts to the face. Holm rocks a backing Cyborg with a few more lefts, Holm grabs Cyborg and holds her against the cage wall. Cyborg catches Holm with knee strikes as the round ends.
Fightful scores the round 10-9 for Cyborg (Final Score: 48-47 for Cyborg)
Official Result: Cyborg def. #2 Holly Holm by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) to retain the UFC Women’s Featherweight Title
While she's held three different championships, Cyborg moved to a feat of 10 straight Invicta, UFC, and Strikeforce Championship fights.
After the fight, Cyborg mentioned that she could end up fighting Megan Anderson. UFC Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes has also expressed interest in facing the winner of Saturday's show.
You can see our full, live coverage of UFC 219 at this link, staff predictions at this link, several of our fighter interviews on the show at this link, and our live, post-show podcast at this link.
