Featherweight champ 'Cyborg' Justino calls for UFC 219 fight with ex-135 champ Holly Holm
- from MMA Junkie on Aug 09, 2017
- 10 views
- Comment
Cristiane Justino never has been shy about using her social media to let people know what – or who – is on her mind. Fresh off her title-winning UFC 214 display, that is currently Holly Holm.
Justino (18-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who most recently capped off yet another demolition with a third-round TKO over former Invicta FC bantamweight titleholder Tonya Evinger to earn the UFC’s vacant 145-pound belt, has always been clear about her interest in meeting Holm (11-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC). Tuesday, however, she took to Twitter and Instagram to add a time and place to her challenge.
Calling for an 145-pound title affair at UFC 219, which is expected to take place at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 30, the champ also cited a few failed attempts of negotiating a meeting with the UFC’s former 135-pound titleholder.
“I want my next fight to be the biggest fight I can make for the fans who have supported me my entire career,” Justino said in one of two Instagram posts featuring the former champion. “I want to face Holly Holm in Vegas. Let the UFC know this is a PPV you will buy.”
“Before Holly signed with the UFC her management teased of an independent PPV one day between #TeamCyborg and #TeamHolm. When we both signed to the @UFC I tried to negotiate a fight as the Co-Main against Holly Holm the night Ronda fought Cat Zingano in LA. Holly fought Raquel Pennington instead, while I fought for @invictafc the night before. At #ufc198 I requested Holly, and then again when I was the main event on @fs1 for #ufcfn95. Holly won easily in Singapore, and Megan Anderson was forced to withdrawal my team again requested Holm for #ufc214. #CyborgNation has been very loud online since #ufc214 and wants #CyborgVHolm I want my next fight to be the biggest fight I can make for the fans who have supported me my entire career. #ufc219 I want to face Holly Holm in Vegas. Let the @UFCknow this is a PPV you will buy!”
While Holm has yet to respond publicly, UFC President Dana White did say right after Justino’s dominant UFC 214 win that both he and, apparently, the ex-champ herself were interested in the matchup.
Justino is so determined to make the encounter happen that she has changed her Twitter user name, which now reads “#UFC219 CyborgVHolm.” This is not the first time the Brazilian featherweight has used her social media to leverage bouts – and if it comes to fruition, it wouldn’t be the first successful one either.
After a heavy push, Justino got an encounter with the successor to her Invicta FC featherweight throne: Megan Anderson. The Aussie, however, had to pull out of the bout – which Evinger ultimately took on. Justino and Evinger fought for the belt that the division’s inaugural champ, Germaine de Randamie, was stripped of after refusing to fight logical contender “Cyborg.”
Justino has now fought three times under the UFC banner, although only the most recent one took place in her original 145-pound division. For her first two outings, she made a catchweight limit of 140 pounds before easily beating Leslie Smith and Lina Lansberg.
The fight would be Holm’s second stab at the 145-pound title, after dropping a controversial decision to De Randamie at UFC 208. Holm, who shocked the world by beating then-dominant champ Ronda Rousey to earn the UFC’s women’s bantamweight belt, is coming off a knockout over former title challenger Bethe Correia. The win snapped a three-fight skid.
For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
view original article >>
