The first female champion vs champion fight has officially been booked. Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes is making the move up from the bantamweight division to take on Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino in the featherweight division at UFC 232 on December 29 in California. Oddsmakers have Cyborg opening as a -250 favorite with The Lioness coming back at +195 for this superfight in the women’s divisions.
The -260 line for Cyborg might jump at you as a deal, as in her previous five fights in the Octagon she has been an average -1619 favorite. What I find interesting about the current odds is that Cyborg entered the fight against Holly Holm as a -275 favorite and I believe Nunes has a much better chance to steal the featherweight belt from Cyborg than Holm ever did. The two have been verbally jousting for months and now the talk ends when the two battle later this year.
Nunes at Featherweight
Although Cyborg will be the bigger woman in the Octagon when the two meet, Nunes had success at featherweight in her past. She competed in the featherweight division to start her career where she posted a record of 6-1. All six victories for The Lioness in the 145-pound division came by knockout, including wins over Ediane Gomes and Julia Budd.
Nunes has had her difficulties cutting the weight at 135 pounds and has appeared to be the bigger woman in all of her fights at bantamweight. The Brazilian is riding a seven-fight winning streak and has defended her belt four times, finishing her opponent three of those times, including a fifth-round TKO over Raquel Pennington at UFC 224.
How will Cyborg vs NUNES play out?
This is sure to be a standup war between the two Brazilians with 17 of Cyborg’s 20 victories coming by way of T/KO and 11 of Nunes’ 16 wins coming the same way. With two fighters coming to battle with legit knockout power, it’s tough to give the edge one way or the other. Cyborg is going to use her size and strength to try to corner Nunes and look for the finish. The Curitiba native is methodical and aggressive, landing 7.02 strikes per minute while defending 70 percent of attacks against. Cyborg hasn’t suffered a loss since her first professional fight in 2005 when she was stopped by a kneebar. She has won five straight UFC fights including defending her belt twice.
Nunes’ road to victory over Cyborg may come on the mat. The Lioness averages 1.82 takedowns per 15 minutes and it’s in her best interest to stay away from Cyborg’s power in the standup game. Two of Nunes’ four losses have come by way of TKO/KO, most recently being stopped by Cat Zingano at UFC 178. The Bahia native may look to her leg kicks to slow Cyborg down and secure the takedown where she can work her impressive ground and pound to become the first woman two-division champion.
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Cristiane Justino | -250 |
| Amanda Nunes | +195 |
Odds as of December 29 at Sportsbook
