Coach: Holly Holm Will Finish Cyborg
Given that she’s just 1-3 in her last four fights, some are doubting Holly Holm heading into her highly anticipated featherweight title fight with dominant champion Cris Cyborg, which is set to take place in the main event of UFC 219 on Dec. 30, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Holm’s longtime coach Mike Winkeljohn, however, recently said that Holm has been in this position before and she’s always rose to the occasion. In fact, Winklejohn even went as far as to predict a finish:
“You know what, behind the scenes when we fought Ronda we were pretty confident that we had the proper game plan to beat Ronda,” Winkeljohn told Submission Radio. “Everybody thought we were crazy, everyone thought Holly was crazy when she first fought Christy Martin back in the early days in boxing cause Christy Martin knocked everyone out, and Holly made that look easy, and she had what I call that “Christy Martin” moment where Christy tried to throw a punch at her, Holly slipped under and then Christy almost went through the ropes. Guess what? Ronda did the same thing, and it’s gonna happen in the Cris Cyborg fight, she’s gonna have that same moment.”
“Holly’s stopping Cris Cyborg probably later in the fight. You know, round four, round five she’s gonna finish the fight, shock the world again.”
Although the fight is now set, it didn’t easily come to fruition, as contract negotiations lingered between both camps and the UFC. Winklejohn still doesn’t feel as if Holm is getting compensated enough, although he hopes that changes once she reclaims UFC gold:
“No, she deserves much more, but it is what it is,” Winkeljohn said. “Cyborg’s got the title, Holly doesn’t have a title, so we don’t have all the chips at the moment, and the fight is what’s most important. Beating Cris Cyborg puts Holly back and higher where she will be the, I guess, biggest name ever in women’s combat sports. So she’s gotta win the fight and got to do that first, and then maybe she’ll get paid even more in the next one.”
How do you expect this fight to play out?
