The very first winner vs winner fight has been booked. Amanda”The Lioness” Nunes is making the move up from the bantamweight division to take on Cristiane”Cyborg” Justino from the featherweight division at UFC 232 on December 29 in California. Oddsmakers have Cyborg opening as a -250 favorite with all The Lioness coming back in +195 for this superfight from the women’s divisions.
The -260 lineup for Cyborg might jump in you as a bargain, as in her past five fights at the Octagon she has been a typical -1619 favorite. What I find interesting about the present chances is that Cyborg entered the fight against Holly Holm as a -275 favored and that I think Nunes has a far greater chance to steal the featherweight belt from Cyborg compared to Holm actually did. Both have been verbally jousting for months and now the talk ends when both conflict later this season.
Nunes in Featherweight
Although Cyborg are the bigger woman from the Octagon when the two meet, Nunes had success at featherweight in her past. She cried in the featherweight division to begin her career where she published a record of 6-1. All six successes for The Lioness from the 145-pound branch came by knockout, including wins within Ediane Gomes and Julia Budd.
Nunes has had her problems cutting on the weight at 135 pounds and has seemed to be the larger woman in all of her struggles at bantamweight. The Brazilian is currently riding a seven-fight winning series and has defended her belt four times, completing her opponent three of those times, including a fifth-round TKO over Raquel Pennington at UFC 224.
Can Cyborg vs NUNES perform?
This is certain 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 manner. Together with two fighters coming to struggle with fictitious knockout power, it’s tough to provide the advantage one way or the other. Cyborg will use her size and power to try and corner Nunes and look for the finish. The Curitiba native is methodical and competitive, landing 7.02 strikes a while whilst defending 70 percent of attacks against. Cyborg has not suffered a loss since her very first pro fight in 2005 when she was halted by a kneebar. She’s won five consecutive UFC fights including defending her belt twice.
Nunes’ road to victory over Cyborg may come to the mat. The Lioness averages 1.82 takedowns per 15 minutes and it’s in her best interest to steer clear of 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 in UFC 178. The Bahia native will seem for her leg kicks to slow Cyborg down and secure the takedown where she can perform her striking floor and pound to become the first woman two-division champion.
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