At UFC 184 Ronda Rousey defeated Cat Zingano to defend her Women’s Bantamweight Title. The win improved an already perfect record to 11-0. In eleven professional fights, only Miesha Tate in their 2013 rematch managed to make it out of the first round.
The undefeated Zingano was the clear number one contender, believed by most to pose the biggest threat to Rousey’s divisional dominance so far. She lasted just 14 seconds.
The manner of the victory served as a graphic reminder that we are witnessing true sporting excellence. Elite is a word too often used in mixed martial arts, but it serves as a perfect fit for the 2008 Olympic medallist.
While Rousey is carving through the UFC’s list of contenders, there is another dominant female in the world of mixed martial arts. Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino has lost just once in her professional career – against Erica Paes in her professional debut back in 2005 – and is the current Invicta Featherweight Champion.
Despite Justino’s dominance against a series of overmatched opponents, it is now being reported that Bethe Correia will get the next shot at the Bantamweight title at UFC 190 in Brazil. It is a move that has left some UFC fans underwhelmed.
Many believe that Rousey needs to fight Justino to cement her own legacy. The former Strikeforce champion is hyped as the only real test left for the UFC Champion. Not only is this pushed as a potentially great fight between two unstoppable champions, but as one of the biggest fights not just in women’s MMA but in the history of the sport.
Under close inspection none of these suggestions hold true.
When Zuffa purchased the UFC in January of 2001, they worked hard to legitimize the sport. Still, single discipline stars could come in and have an immediate impact, mismatches remained common, and the talent pool at the top was far from deep.
14 years on, that is the framework that Rousey finds herself operating in today. Just as the likes of Randy Couture, Matt Hughes and Tito Ortiz took the sport on to a new level back then, Rousey is doing the same for women’s MMA today. In doing so, her legacy is already set in stone.
Without Ronda Rousey it would have taken the UFC far longer to promote women’s MMA. Combine that with her destruction of legitimate challengers and she is the most influential and successful women’s mixed martial artist of all time. A win over Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino does little to change that.
The current Women’s Bantamweight Champion has faced the best in the world and beaten them with consumate ease. A look at Justino’s record hardly reads as impressively. Two wins over Marloes Coenen stand out. Victories against an overmatched Gina Carano, and an undersized Shayna Baszler do not. There is little else of note.
When you add the Brazilian’s year long suspension for using steroids into the mix, Justino’s legacy begins looking a lot more damaged and in need of repair than Rousey’s.
What of the fight itself, could it be the exciting five round war that we would all love to see Rousey in? What we have seen in the cage from both competitors so far suggests otherwise.
Justino can be powerful and overwhelming but she is not a great technical striker. At this point in their respective careers Rousey is the better boxer.
Justino’s wild, winging punches have been powerful enough to break the will of her previous opponents but her record is hardly a who’s who of women’s MMA. Her latest victim, Charmaine Tweet, was beaten in Rousey’s second professional fight.
Justino’s other strengths also play to the UFC champion’s advantage. Her aggression would work against her just like Zingano’s did at UFC 184, and trying to throw vicious shots from the clinch would be asking for Rousey to put her on her back.
This would not be a great fight. It wouldn’t even be a close one.
There are also a number of stumbling blocks to overcome before any potential bout could be made, most notably the fighters competing in different weight classes.
Whether you believe Cyborg is unable, or unwilling, to cut to 135lbs to fight for the UFC Bantamweight title, any potential match up would have to take place at a higher weight. Talk of a 140lb catch weight has been mooted, but the more likely outcome would be Rousey stepping up to 145lbs to make the fight happen.
While it seems unfair that Rousey – who holds all the cards at this point – should do all of the bending to accomodate a fighter who offers no flexibility of her own, one factor overrides all others. Money.
If this truly is one of the biggest fights in UFC history then it doesn’t matter what has to be done to make it happen. The payoff, both for the fighters and for the UFC, will be worth it no matter the consequence.
That tells its own story, because if this were the huge money maker we are led to believe it could be then the UFC would already have made it happen.
The casual UFC fans who really move the needle in terms of pay per view buy rates may not have seen a single Justino fight. It seems unlikely that they are tuning in to watch Lion Fights on AXS or streaming Invicta cards on UFC fight pass.
Maybe they saw Cyborg – Carano. Maybe.
That marquee match on Justino’s record averaged 576,000 viewers on Showtime. UFC 184, headlined by Rousey Vs Zingano, is reported to have done a similar number in paying pay per view customers.
Beyond that Justino never did those sort of figures again. Without Gina Carano’s marketable presence opposing her, she became a midcard afterthought and Strikeforce were left with a champion that was tough to promote.
Rousey Vs Cyborg is a smart match, for smart MMA media folk and smart MMA fans. In other words, the people who are going to buy and watch the shows regardless. The broader appeal has been significantly overplayed.
When both Rousey and the UFC can make similar money promoting a fight against Bethe Correia before a third installment of the Ronda Rousey – Miesha Tate rivalry, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino becomes an unappealing risk that they have no reason to take.
