Holly Holm Scores Easy Decision Win vs. Megan Anderson at UFC 225

Holly Holm defeated Megan Anderson by unanimous decision at UFC 225 on Saturday at United Center in Chicago.

According to MMA Fighting, two judges scored it 30-26 and a third had it 30-27.

Holm did a great job of keeping her distance from Anderson early in the fight before finding a comfort zone. From there, she largely kept the 6'0" Anderson on the mat or pressed against the cage, negating the four-inch height advantage for the Australian.

Holm's strategy wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing to watch, but it was incredibly effective and drew plenty of praise on social media:

Saturday's fight was Anderson's UFC debut. She joined the company in 2017 and was originally set to fight Cris Cyborg at UFC 214 in July 2017 but had to withdraw for personal reasons.

Despite the fact that Anderson had never fought in the UFC before Saturday night, she stood to gain a lot with a victory over Holm. She burnished her reputation in Invicta FC and positioned herself as a rising star in what is a thin women's featherweight division.

By losing to Holm, though, Anderson will likely need to collect a win or two before she becomes the No. 1 contender for Cyborg's featherweight title. Granted, the dearth of talent will make it hard for Anderson to test herself before a shot at the championship.

While waiting a bit to have Anderson cross paths with Cyborg made sense, booking her against Holm in what is effectively a title eliminator always carried some risk, because now the UFC has to decide whether it wants to pit Holm in a rematch against Cyborg.

The two met at UFC 219 in December, with Cyborg earning a unanimous decision, which was only the third time she failed to either knock out or submit her opponent en route to a win.

Still, the bout was about as decisive as a fight that goes the distance could be. According to UFC.com, Cyborg landed 131 total strikes and 118 significant strikes, compared to 48 and 44, respectively, for Holm. Holm gave everything she had, but few fans will have watched the fight and thought Holm could get the better of Cyborg on a different day.

If Cyborg vs. Holm is the next step for both fighters after UFC 225, then the UFC will have an uphill battle making Holm look like a credible threat, even after her impressive win Saturday.