Cyborg vs. Holm official for UFC 219, 'likely' to headline card

UFC 219 finally has the championship bout it was lacking.

A women's featherweight title bout between reigning champion Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm is official for Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the promotion announced on Thursday. Its billing has yet to be confirmed, although Lance Pugmire of The LA Times reports it will "likely" headline the year-end card.

Both fighters had long expressed their mutual interest in squaring off, and see their shared wish granted after negotiations recently hit a temporary impasse and left the event without a title bout just over six weeks out.

After stopping Leslie Smith and Lina Lansberg in a pair of 140-pound catchweight bouts, Cyborg captured the featherweight crown with a third-round TKO of Tonya Evinger - who'd filled in for Megan Anderson on short notice - at UFC 214 this past July.

Holm - a former bantamweight titleholder - will once again look to become the UFC's first female two-division champion after falling short against Germaine de Randamie in the featherweight class' controversial inaugural title bout at UFC 208 in February. The defeat extended Holm's first career losing skid to three, one she snapped with a third-round KO of Bethe Correia at UFC Fight Night 111 in June.

As for Jimmie Rivera, who remains without an opponent after Dominick Cruz recently pulled out of their bantamweight bout with a broken arm, the UFC brass is "still working on" a replacement opponent, Pugmire reports.