The betting lines have Cris “Cyborg” Justino as a considerable favorite heading into her December 30th bout with Holly Holm. But, according to the woman who ended Holm’s reign as bantamweight champ, the latter has the “best chance” of defeating her.
That woman, of course, is Miesha Tate, who choked Holm out in March, 2016, to become the UFC’s 135 champion. More recently, the now retired fighter was a guest on MMA Tonight, and not surprisingly, Tate was asked to weigh-in on Justino – Holm. Here is some of what Tate had to say (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“Of anybody that I can think to fight Cyborg to right now, that has the best chance, I honestly, truly believe that it is Holly,” said Tate.
“The reason I say that is, if Cyborg can’t get ahold of Holly, if she recklessly chases her down – similar to how Ronda did, not using the correct angles – if she follows her like a missile – which she does in every fight I’ve ever seen before, that’s how she hunts girls down because she can – with Holly, that’s not a good idea. She can cut through those angles. She’s an amazing counter striker and if she lands that head kick, I think she can put anybody away. So stylistically, this makes for a really, really interesting fight.”
Tate makes a really good point here, as Holm is a ridiculously, good, counter striker, just ask Ronda Rousey, and Justino is certainly a pressuring fighter. But, you have to wonder if maybe “Cyborg” will make some adjustments in this respect, or look to take the bout down.
Speaking of that, Tate also relayed that if “Cyborg” is able to take Holm down to the floor, then the decorated striker is in “big trouble”. Pretty hard to argue with Tate here either. Justino is much bigger, stronger and she’s also a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Tate also noted, however, that it’s not so easy taking Holm down, and she knows this from personal experience. It’s certainly a very interesting fight on several different levels.
UFC 219 will go down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 30th. It’s not clear yet whether “Cyborg” – Holm will serve as the main event.