Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm will have a chance to do what few others have done in the company’s history—become a two division title holder when she faces Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural women’s featherweight title at UFC 208. The UFC announced the fight for the first 145-pound division title Tuesday, which is scheduled for Feb. 11 in Brooklyn, New York.
As noted by the UFC release, the five-round title fight squares off two of women’s MMA’s greatest strikers, with Holly Holm – a three-division boxing champion – entering the Octagon against Germaine de Randamie – a three-division Muay Thai champion. With the announcement, Holm has a chance to become only the fourth fighter in the organization’s history to win titles in two weight divisions.
Holly Holm won the women’s bantamweight title last year, shocking the world by knocking out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193. She has since lost her last two fights – first failing to defend her title against Miesha Tate at UFC 196; then losing a unanimous decision against Valentina Shevchenko. Germaine de Randamie, for her part, went 46-0 with 30 knockouts in her pro Muay Thai career. She then moved on to fight with Strikeforce before debuting in the UFC. She has won her last two fights (against Larrisa Pacheco and Anna Elmose) via knockout to set up her title fight.
Previously, UFC President Dana White said that women’s MMA legend Cris Cyborg (Cristiane Justino) was supposed to fight Holly Holm for the inaugural women’s featherweight title, which the Brazilian turned downed citing an issue with making the 145-pound weight limit. White said that he then offered another 145-pound fight to Cyborg against Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208, which was turned down again by the Invicta featherweight champion for the same reasons. White also said that while Holm was excited at the prospect of fighting Cyborg, her coach Mike Winkeljohn advised against it.
Source: UFC.com
