UFC 208: Holly Holm, Germaine de Randamie to fight in first women’s featherweight title bout at Barclays Center
Holly Holm answers questions from the media during UFC media day at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Credit: Mario Gonzalez
UFC 208 will be the promotion’s first in Brooklyn and brings with it another first: the women’s featherweight division.
Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie will face one another in a title fight at the Barclays Center on Feb. 11, 2017, the UFC announced Tuesday night. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout at 145 pounds.
The fight, the first announced officially for UFC 208, establishes the UFC’s third women’s division and the 11th division overall.
No placement on the card for this fight was announced Tuesday night.
It is expected the Holm-de Randamie winner would make her first title defense against Cris “Cyborg” Justino, one of the most dominant female MMA fighters.
“Just 2 months ago there was no girls at 145 to fight,” Justino tweeted Tuesday night. “Now they have a girl who’s 0-2 fighting for the belt just to disrespect me.”
Holm (10-2, 3-2 UFC), ranked No. 4 in the bantamweight division, is a former 135-pound champion and on a two-fight losing streak. Holm lost the title to Miesha Tate by submission in her first defense last March and then was beaten by unanimous decision by Valentina Shevchenko in July.
De Randamie (6-3, 4-1), the 13th-ranked bantamweight in the UFC, has won two straight fights by technical knockout. Her most recent came last May via first-round stoppage of Anna Elmose.
Queens’ Randy Brown will fight George Sullivan in a welterweight fight at UFC 208, as well.
This will be the fifth UFC fight for Brown (9-1, 3-1) in the past 13 months since his debut after being discovered on “Lookin’ for a Fight,” a reality web series from UFC president Dana White and former welterweight champion Matt Serra.
Long Island’s Ryan LaFlare will fight Roan Carneiro in a welterweight bout on the card as well. The UFC made the fight official Tuesday night. LaFlare, who returns from an injury, had posted the booking recently in his social media accounts.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
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