Holly Holm Open To Rematch With Cris Cyborg If Victorious At UFC 219
In just one week, the UFC featherweight title will be on the line, as champion Cris Cyborg is set to defend her 145-pound title against ex-bantamweight titleholder Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 219 next Saturday (Dec. 30, 2017) in Las Vegas.
Recently speaking on the fight, Holm made it clear that she’s nothing short of confident, but she also said that she’ll be willing to run it back with Cyborg if she does indeed come out on top – as long as the situation isn’t similar to when she beat Ronda Rousey at UFC 193:
“With Ronda, I was open to the rematch as well,” Holm explained on a recent UFC 219 conference call. “It’s just, they didn’t know how long or when she would come back, or when she would want to, and that’s when I said, ‘Well, I don’t want to just wait around. I’ll wait if you can tell me that it’s going to be within six months or whatever,’ but I didn’t want to just be waiting around for that one fight. I wanted to be able to fight and train and live out my passion. I didn’t want it to just be based on just one fighter.”
After shocking the world with a second-round knockout victory over Rousey in 2015, Holm was open to the idea of a rematch, but the “Rowdy” one ended up spending the next year on the sidelines.
Holm, however, doesn’t expect the situation to be the same with Cyborg:
“So, I think that situation was different. If that was to happen in this fight, of course I would say yes. I think anybody deserves a rematch. I think that’s just the name of the game. That’s the fighting spirit, and I would definitely be open to that. I feel like Cris is definitely a competitive person as well and trains hard, and I feel like the situation after the fight would be a little bit different anyway. I don’t think that Cris would want to sit aside for a year or however long.”
Although her confidence is evident, Holm will certainly have her hands full, as Cyborg is widely considered to be the best female fighter on the planet. She hasn’t lost since 2005 and she’s currently riding an 18-fight win streak.
Who do you expect to come out on top next week?
