The highly anticipated Cris “Cyborg” Justino vs. Amanda Nunes fight is closer to becoming a reality.
The UFC is hoping to book the women’s featherweight title fight for UFC 232 on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas, sources confirmed with ESPN.
Nunes posted a signed bout agreement for that event on social media Wednesday night, after Justino tried to persuade her earlier in the day to fight at UFC 228 on Sept. 8.
I agreed for second time , fight Amanda Nunes September 8 #UFCdallas #UFC228 my last fight was 4 months ago. I’m ready to fight.
— CyborgVNunes #ufc228 (@criscyborg) July 11, 2018
Waiting on you. @criscyborg #ufc232 December 29 🦁 Contrato assinado 29 de dezembro #ufc232 pic.twitter.com/J6QKx3YjvC
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) July 12, 2018
According to multiple sources, the promotion wants the fight to happen at its year-end show, scheduled to take place at T-Mobile Arena. The fight is expected to be for Justino’s 145-pound title.
Justino (20-1, 1 NC) is considered the best female fighter in the world. Her lone loss came in her professional debut in 2005, and most recently she defeated Yana Kunitskaya in March via first-round TKO. Justino has openly stated that she would like to fight before Dec. 29, but that doesn’t appear to be the plan at this time.
Nunes (16-4) is the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. Her win over Raquel Pennington in May was her seventh in a row, and she holds victories over Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Valentina Shevchenko, among others. Should she win, Nunes would become just the third fighter in UFC history to be a champion in two weight classes at the same time.