When Holly Holm and Germaine De Randamie throw down in Brooklyn this Sunday at UFC 208 to crown the first UFC 145-pound women's champion, a history-making Gold Coast fighter will be watching with more interest than most.

Almost one month ago, Megan Anderson became the first Australian fighter to hold a title in a major international MMA organisation with a blistering second-round knockout of Charmaine Tweet to claim the Invicta interim featherweight title vacated by Cris Cyborg.

Megan Anderson knocked out Charmaine Tweet to take the Invicta interim featherweight title. Credit:Invicta FC

It has been a long, lonely road to the top for Anderson, who compiled an Australian record of 5-1 before making a snap decision to leave her friends and family in the Gold Coast behind, moving to Kansas City to train under UFC lightweight James Krause at Glory MMA.

The change came after she was picked up by Invicta, the world's premier women's MMA organisation, and subsequently submitted by Cindy Dandois.