The first winner vs winner fight has formally been booked. Amanda”The Lioness” Nunes is currently making the move up from the bantamweight division to shoot 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 all The Lioness coming back at +195 for this superfight in the women’s divisions.
The -260 lineup for Cyborg may jump in you as a bargain, as in her previous five fights in the Octagon she’s been an average -1619 favorite. What I find fascinating about the current odds is that Cyborg entered the struggle against Holly Holm as a -275 favored and that I think Nunes has a far better opportunity to steal the featherweight belt out of Cyborg compared to Holm actually did. The two have been jousting for weeks and the conversation ends when both conflict later this year.
Nunes in Featherweight
Although Cyborg will be the larger woman in the Octagon when both meet, Nunes had success at featherweight in her past. She competed in the featherweight division to begin her career in which she published a record of 6-1. All six victories for The Lioness from the 145-pound division came by knockout, including wins within Ediane Gomes and Julia Budd.
Nunes has had her problems cutting on the weight at 135 lbs and has seemed to be the bigger woman in all her struggles at bantamweight. The Brazilian is currently riding a seven-fight winning series and has defended her belt four times, finishing her competitor three of those times, including a fifth-round TKO over Raquel Pennington at UFC 224.
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 exactly the same way. With two fighters coming to battle with fictitious knockout power, it is tough to give the edge one way or the other. Cyborg will use her size and strength to attempt to corner Nunes and search for the finish. The Curitiba native is methodical and competitive, landing 7.02 strikes per minute whilst defending 70 percent of attacks against. Cyborg hasn’t suffered a loss since her first professional fight in 2005 when she had been stopped by a kneebar. She has won five consecutive UFC struggles including defending her belt double.
Nunes’ road to victory over Cyborg can 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 from the standup game. Two of Nunes’ four losses have come by way of TKO/KO, most recently being halted by Cat Zingano in UFC 178. The Bahia native may look for her leg kicks to slow Cyborg down and fasten the takedown where she can work her striking floor and pound to become the first girl two-division champion.

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