After her recent win over Charmaine “Not So Sweet” Tweet, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino was hoping to get a chance to immediately enter the UFC and fight Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey for the title. Justino, normally quiet and non-confrontational outside of the ring has taken to social media to call out Rousey and plead her case.
After Rousey defeated “Alpha” Cat Zingano at UFC 184, Cyborg tweeted Rousey pushing for a chance to fight. Justino also tweeted “How many first round wins does Rousey need before Dana White asks her to challenge herself?” It seems that Justino is willing to fight Rousey, however she doesn’t feel that she should have to make 135 pound weight limit for that to happen.
Justino feels that she is a champion at 145 pounds, and does not want to drop the weight to fight for Rousey’s belt. This of course ignores the fact that she is a champion in Invicta, not UFC, and that UFC does not have a women’s 145 pound weight class. If she wants this fight so badly, you would think that she would drop the 10lbs fight Rousey. Justino has stated far and wide that she believes she will beat Rousey, so why not get into the bantamweight class and do it? We all know that Justino has had trouble making the 135 pound weight limit in the past, therefore she wants a catch weight fight. Rousey’s mother, AnnMarie de Mars posted about the issue on her blog, saying:
“Here is what really pisses me off. Seriously, if you want to fight someone who has a world title, you establish yourself as a contender and fight them. You make the same weight. You subject yourself to random out-of-competition drug testing. You are under the same rules as everyone else.
You don’t ask people to make up a special division just for you. You don’t ask out of your contract the same week the organization announces out of competition testing, go to compete in a promotion that doesn’t have the same budget for drug testing and then come in through the back door. You don’t claim that making the weight for a title fight will kill you but five pounds more you’ll be the picture of health.
You don’t say that everyone else in the world has to make weight, but not me. It would be too hard for me.
This whole thing is stupid.”
Justino on the other hand says that Rousey has proven that she can dominate the 135 pound divion, and should move up to prove herself as an even greater fighter, and challenge herself.
Personally, I feel it is Cyborg who needs to step down and prove herself, not that she hasn’t proven that she is an amazing and talented fighter. I just mean that she needs to prove that she really wants to be in the UFC and that she really wants to fight Rousey. While trying to prove her case for a fight with Rousey, she may be also sabotaging it. When all is said and done, the same can be said for her, she has dominated the 145 pound weight division in Invicta FC. She is becoming like “Iron” Mike Tyson in his prime, no one wants to fight her in Invicta FC.
While there has always been talk about a Rousey versus Cyborg Justino fight going all the way back to when both were in StrikeForce, especially from Justino herself, it seems that the hype for such a matchup has only increased. With UFC 184 taking place the same weekend as Invicta FC 11, this seemed to spark more and more questions oif “what if” and “could these two ever face each other?” Another dominant first round submission by Rousey also added fuel to the fire. These and other questions have become the focal point of most interviews. Both fighters seem to be asked about each other every possible chance an interviewer has, “Is there a possibility of you facing Cristiane Cyborg Justino?”, “Do you think “Rowdy” Ronda will fight you at 145lbs?”
I believe these questions have been answered by UFC president Dana White when he said “Cyborg has to make the weight, and this fight is going to happen”.
Following her victory over Charmaine Tweet, Cyborg Justino said she would to do her best to make the 135 pound limit, for her team, her fans and her family. There is no way we will know if Cyborg will make the weight anytime soon or ever. With Rousey being the intelligent woman she is, we should not expect her to go up in weight to fight Cyborg, as she has nothing to prove.
No matter what happens, UFC and MMA fans around the world, will be ready to tune in if and when a fight between the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey and Invicta FC Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino ever takes place.
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PHOENIX, AZ – DECEMBER 13: Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino sits Octagonside during the UFC Fight Night event at the U.S. Airways Center on December 13, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)