LAS VEGAS — Cris Cyborg defended her UFC women’s featherweight title but was made to battle longer and harder than ever before in outlasting Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 219 on Saturday night.
The powerful Brazilian, who became a naturalized United States citizen last year, scraped a narrow unanimous points decision after former bantamweight champ Holm put in a tenacious and wholehearted display at T-Mobile Arena.
One judge scored the contest by a lopsided margin of 49-46, while the other two put in cards of 48-47, which more accurately reflected the tight nature of the match-up.
Cyborg has now won 19 in a row since losing the first fight of her career way back in 2005 but had never previously been taken into the fifth round.
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Holm famously produced the most stunning upset in UFC history in 2015, when she flattened Ronda Rousey with a crushing kick to the head and clinched the bantamweight title. From that pinnacle came a steep decline, with Holm losing her belt to Miesha Tate and then suffering two further defeats.
A victory here would have made up for all that, but it was not to be.
Holm was unfailingly courageous, and the punching ability that made her a former boxing world champion made her a dangerous threat. In the end, however, Cyborg was simply too strong and too technically sound, grinding out a decision despite ending the bout with her face marked and nose bloodied.
She had little to say afterwards, other than that she would like to fight at UFC 221 in Perth, Australia, in February. This may have been the toughest fight of her career, but that unbeaten streak remains intact. And so does her status as the baddest woman on the planet.
Follow Martin Rogers on Twitter @RogersJourno.
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