The UFC is introducing a new title with one well-known fighter notably missing out of the first match for the gold.
On ESPN Tuesday night, it was revealed that former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm will battle fellow bantamweight fighter Germaine de Randamie to become the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight champion.
The fight will headline UFC 208 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, on February 11th.
Surprisingly, Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino is not involved as during media interviews last week, Dana White said Justino turned down two opportunities to fight for the title. Justino cited needing recovery time from the hard weight cut she endured before her September beatdown of Lina Lansberg.
Justino was the final Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion and is the current Invicta women’s featherweight champion.
Holm has been quiet since losing to Valentina Shevchenko in July, her second straight defeat. The 35-year-old rose to prominence with her November 2015 knockout of Ronda Rousey, but lost to Miesha Tate in dramatic fashion in her first defense of the gold.
The 32-year-old de Randamie has finished two straight opponents, but has fought just twice in the last three years.
UFC needed a main event for the show, given they just postponed their January PPV and were running out of time to start the promotional plan for February. That would lead one to believe that the men’s featherweight championship unification bout between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway will not be on that February 11th show as Aldo alluded to Monday.
As of now, Holm vs. de Randamie is the only fight announced for the show.
