The first winner vs winner fight has formally been reserved. Amanda”The Lioness” Nunes is making the move upward 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 launching as a -250 favorite using all The Lioness coming back at +195 for this superfight in the women’s divisions.
The -260 line for Cyborg may jump at you as a bargain, as in her past five fights at the Octagon she has been a typical -1619 favorite. What I find fascinating about the current chances is that Cyborg entered the struggle against Holly Holm as a -275 favored and I think Nunes has a much greater chance to steal the featherweight belt out of Cyborg than Holm actually did. Both have been verbally jousting for months and the talk ends when both battle later this season.
Nunes in Featherweight
Although Cyborg are the larger woman from the Octagon when both meet, Nunes had success at featherweight in her past. She competed in the featherweight division to start 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 over Ediane Gomes and Julia Budd.
Nunes has her problems cutting the weight at 135 lbs 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 competitor three of these times, including a fifth-round TKO over Raquel Pennington in UFC 224.
How can Cyborg vs NUNES perform?
This is certain to be a standup war between both Brazilians with 17 of Cyborg’s 20 victories coming by means of T/KO and 11 of Nunes’ 16 wins coming exactly the same way. With two fighters coming to struggle with legit knockout power, it is tough to give the advantage one way or another. Cyborg will use her size and power to try to corner Nunes and look for the finish. The Curitiba native is methodical and aggressive, landing 7.02 strikes a while whilst protecting 70 percent of strikes against. Cyborg hasn’t suffered a loss since her first pro fight in 2005 when she had been stopped by a kneebar. She’s won five straight UFC fights including defending her belt twice.
Nunes’ road to victory over Cyborg can come on the mat. The Lioness averages 1.82 takedowns per 15 minutes and it is in her best interest to stay away from Cyborg’s power in the standup game. Two of Nunes’ four losses came by way of TKO/KO, most recently being halted by Cat Zingano at UFC 178. The Bahia native will look to her leg kicks to slow Cyborg down and secure the takedown where she can perform her striking ground and pound to become the first girl two-division winner.
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