Dana White: Holly Holm Can Make Claim to G.O.A.T Status with Win Over ‘Cyborg’

Holly Holm has already accomplished a lot over the course of a lengthy combat sports career, including numerous boxing titles and one of the biggest upsets in mixed martial arts history.

She can add to that list by claiming featherweight gold with a victory against Cristiane Justino in the UFC 219 headliner on Saturday night. That would make “The Preacher’s Daughter” the first female hold UFC belts in two divisions, and, according to UFC President Dana White, put her in the running for “greatest of all time status.”

“This is the biggest fight of her career,” White said on "The Herd” with Colin Cowherd. “This is the true test for Cris Cyborg. If you look at Holly Holm: 13-time world boxing champion, multiple time kickboxing champion, beat Ronda Rousey and won the UFC title. Now Holm is moving up to 145 pounds and she’s actually a real 145-pounder — she’s tall, she’s big, she’s thick.

“[And] if Holly Holm wins this weekend, how can you argue that she’s not the greatest fighter of all time…female fighter?”

Holm addressed legacy questions during a conference call last week, and while the Jackson-Wink MMA standout recognizes the significance of the “Cyborg” fight, she wasn’t quite ready to call it a career-defining moment.

“I know that a win like this would definitely be a huge thing for my legacy and my career,” Holm said. “But it’s definitely not something that would just define it right now. Even with a win like this, I would still want to push forward and be succeeding after this fight.

“It would definitely be a huge win for me. It would definitely be huge, but each fight, I want to win just as bad. I know that this is going to be a huge fight – a very anticipated fight; one that a lot of people are excited to watch – but I want to win any fight no matter what.”

For the duration of her career, Justino has been a wrecking machine inside the cage, earning 16 of her 18 triumphs via knockout or technical knockout. That includes her current three-fight stint in the UFC, which saw her claim 145-pound gold with a stoppage of Tonya Evinger in July. The 32-year-old Brazilian has rarely been challenged for any significant period of time in any of her fights. However, Holm could provide an interesting stylistic test for “Cyborg.”

“For Cris Cyborg, to win this fight, obviously it’s a big fight for her,” White said. “I think Holly Holm is her first real, true test. As far as the fight goes, Cyborg is a very aggressive fighter, knockout puncher, likes to move forward, aggressive and Holly Holm is a counterpuncher. She’s a great counterpuncher, and I actually expect this to be a great fight.”