UFC 240: Holloway, Cyborg Heavily Favored at Top of Edmonton Card

Posted on: July 27, 2019, 02:00h. 

Last updated on: July 26, 2019, 08:00h.

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Max Holloway is expected to continue his featherweight dominance on Saturday, with DraftKings Sportsbook making the champion a -400 favorite over Frankie Edgar (+310) in the main event at UFC 240 in Edmonton.

Holloway is coming off of a loss to Dustin Poirier in a lightweight title fight in April, but hasn’t lost a featherweight bout since Conor McGregor earned a decision victory against him back in 2013.

Holloway Dominating Featherweight Competition

Since then, Holloway (20-4) has rarely even been challenged at his weight class, winning 13 straight times and earning the featherweight championship with two wins over Jose Aldo in 2017.

Meanwhile, Edgar (23-6-1) has shown vulnerability in the late portion of his career. But even at 37, the former lightweight title holder remains an elite fighter, and has won three of his last four bouts heading into UFC 240.

If Edgar can pull off the upset, he’ll be the latest fighter to join the short list of multi-divisional UFC champions. And while that alone would be quite the accomplishment, he has no intention of stopping at two belts.

I think I could make 135, it obviously wouldn’t be fun,” Edgar told BJPenn.com about the potential for him to cut enough weight to fight at bantamweight. “I wouldn’t go down to fight anybody, it would have to be for the title or have some title implications.”

Edgar will have his work cut out for him this weekend against the younger, more athletic Holloway. But if he can find a way to get the fight down to the mat, his superior wrestling abilities could give him a chance of adding another accolade to what has already been a Hall of Fame caliber career.

Uncertain Future for Cyborg After UFC 240

Speaking of legendary fighters, the UFC 240 co-main event features one of the titans of women’s MMA in Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (20-2), who will take on the undefeated Felicia Spencer (7-0) in a featherweight bout.

While the UFC barely even has a women’s featherweight division to speak of – other than these two, only Megan Anderson and champion Amanda Nunes (who more regularly fights at bantamweight) are on the rosters and have fought at that weight – there’s still quite a lot on the line for both women as they step into the Octagon on Saturday.

For Spencer, a win would represent a meteoric rise through women’s MMA. It’s one even she wasn’t ready for, but wants to take advantage of nonetheless.

I didn’t even plan to have such a quick turnaround. I was hesitant to even go through with that because I’ve never done it before,” Spencer told Bloody Elbow about coming back from fighting Anderson in May. “But the more I thought about it the more I was craving the opportunity. I know this is the last fight on Cyborg’s contract…if I miss this opportunity it might be gone forever.”

That contract situation has been one of many questions Justino has faced heading into UFC 240. She’s been asked about if she’ll come back to the UFC or move to another company, as well as if she might get a rematch with Nunes if she wins on Saturday – a fight UFC president Dana White has said Cyborg doesn’t want.

But despite all the chatter, Justino says she’s only focused on what is directly in front of her.

“I don’t want to think about anything but my fight on Saturday,” she told Yahoo Sports. “Nothing else is productive.”

While Spencer has shown plenty of promise in her short MMA career, few expect her to be much of a match for the more seasoned Justino. Cyborg is a -670 favorite in the contest, with Spencer listed as a +450 underdog.