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What’s the story?
The UFC main event and the co-main event for 222 has been released where Cris "Cyborg" Justino will defend her featherweight belt against Yana Kunitskaya at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In case you didn’t know…
Cyborg is coming off a unanimous decision over Holly Holm in December. She has been in top form and hasn't lost an MMA fight since her pro debut. She has been mauling her weight class and is expected to provide a stiff contest to former Invicta FC bantamweight champion Yana Kunitskaya. Yana has two wins, two losses and one no contest in her last five fights and it will be her UFC debut against Cyborg.
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In the co-main event, Frankie Edgar will take on Brian Ortega as Max Holloway pulled out due to an injury. The winner will face Max for the title.
Edgar is coming off an injury and hasn't fought for a year after a victory over Yair Rodriguez. He was scheduled to face Holloway on two occasions which didn't materialize. It'll be a test for Edgar as Brian Ortega is on a roll, coming off an impressive win by submitting Cub Swanson. He is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the featherweight division.
The heart of the matter
This is going to be an impressive matchup in the main and co-main event at 222. Yana will make her UFC debut and we'll have to wait and see how she will fare against one of the most dominant champions in women's MMA. Ortega is a really impressive fighter with 13 wins and no losses in his professional MMA career.
What’s next?
If Cyborg retains her title she will be ultimately crowned as the greatest women's MMA champion. She has been dominating women's MMA for so many years and this title defence will cement her legacy in the history books.
Author's take
Finally, we have some great fights at UFC 222 as many high profile title fights failed to materialize. Yana has a mammoth task ahead of her going against Cyborg, who is on top form coming after her victory over Holly Holm. Let's hope 2018 will have more high profile fights.
