It's finally official. UFC Welterweight Champion Cris Cyborg will face UFC Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 Dec. 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main reason this fight is even happening is the welterweight division is always going to be weak and not even The Ultimate Fighter 29 will improve the division. Since she has been in the UFC, Cris has fought bantamweights moving up to welterweight. So of course she has a competitive advantage which she would lose if she dropped to bantamweight. But at least Amanda started out as a welterweight. That was a long time ago so I don't know what she will be like as a welterweight now. When this fight was first proposed to Cris, she didn't want to fight another Brazilian. But after she beat Yana Kunitskaya in March and then Holly Holm beat the only other UFC welterweight Megan Anderson, even Cris was forced to admit that Amanda was the best opponent for her. Meanwhile, Amanda defended her UFC Bantamweight Championship with a win over Raquel Pennington in May. The problem was she broke her foot during that fight. Cris keeps wanting to do the fight sooner rather than later. First she wanted to do it in July at International Fight Week. Then she wanted to do it in Sept. When Amanda agreed to Dec. 29, Cris whined publicly that it was too long to wait and she wanted another fight in the meantime. The UFC wasn't going to risk an injury in a meaningless fight. It didn't make sense. Besides that, Amanda needed enough time to recover from the broken foot. And she wanted a full camp. So finally this fight is happening on Dec. 29 as proposed. So the whining didn't do Cris any good. Cris is probably going to win anyway because she's much bigger than Amanda. I don't see Amanda overcoming that. Who knows after that? One name that has come up recently is Olympic Gold Medal judoka Kayla Harrison. When her name first came up a few years ago, I had my doubts that Kayla could make 145. I still believe that because her PFL fights have been at 155. Let's see her make 145 and beat someone decent. That second part could be a problem too. And I am not hopeful that anyone decent will come from TUF 29. I'm keeping my expectations low so maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.
As much as I like Amanda Nunes. She was very respectful and concerned for Raquel after her victory over her. I just do not see her winning over Cyborg. I see another first round finish by Cyborg. Kayla Harrison? Maybe? I to have low expectations at this point. Didn't Cyborg mention she might retire after this fight? Maybe she was just talking. Anyways we will see Frank how all this pans out.
ReplyDeleteThis is the final fight on Cyborg's UFC contract. She can talk all she wants about Bellator or trying boxing but she can't make UFC money anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteSo true Frank, I cannot see her going anywhere else. Well, this fight should be interesting and short. Just my opinion.
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