Well, here we go again. Cris Cyborg appears to be uninterested in competing in a weight division below 145 pounds.
This shouldn't really be a surprise, this has been Cristiane Justino's deal for about two and a half years now. In February 2014, Justino committed to fighting at bantamweight, something that never happened. The 145-pound champion looked ready-made to earn millions in a potential superfight with Ronda Rousey. But don't worry, but editorial (which doesn't necessarily reflect the views of Fightful.com) won't mention her PED use or Ronda Rousey at all from this point forward.
Cris Cyborg never made 135 pounds after committing to it, nor did she make a 140 pound catchweight that she'd committed to in Invicta a couple of times. Finally, she did weigh in at 139 pounds for a UFC 198 bout with the now 8-7-1 Leslie Smith, who formerly competed at 125 pounds.
Now, Cyborg says she wants her own weight class, and took to Facebook to talk about it.
Every UFC Banatamweight in the history of the female division has fought at 145lbs. Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm, and Amanda Nunes.
None of these girls have ever fought lighter than 135lbs.
Currently there is not 1 girl in the bantamweight division's top 10 to have fought their entire career at 135 and Half of the girls ranked in the Bantamweight Top 10 are on a losing streak.
I am the only MMA World Champion to have ever successfully went down in weight to compete in a Superfight while still holding the world title.
I deserve my own division.
These girls didn't want to fight me in my weight class and now fans want me to face them for no belt, or risk my health to chase theirs...this is not fair.
I've earned the right to fight in my division and women deserve an equal opportunity to compete.
#1 P4P female fighter in MMA according to ESPN.
Whatever you do don't miss my next fight...I am going to show the world why these girls left the division...media guys there is your story for the slow news week.
Say what?! Asking women to fight at an optimal weight for their performance sounds an awful lot like the reasons Justino has given for not dropping to 135 pounds, right? We get it, the best women at 135 used to compete in a division higher than what they're at now, and thriving in. They changed weight for a reason.
Those fighters changing weight has completely drained 145 pound divisions in Women's MMA. According to FightMatrix.com, four of the world's top female featherweights are in Bellator MMA, so they're off the board for the UFC. After that, the division features a 4-3 fighter in Peggy Morgan who was cut from the UFC at #7, and Bobbi Jo Dalziel, who has had only two professional fights, at #13. Those two would be ranked #4 and and #9 of fighters available to the UFC, respectively.
The brutal truth is that Cyborg already has her own division -- 140 pounds. There have been other women willing to move up the extra five pounds and face the Invicta FC Featherweight Champion in special attraction fights. Unless Justino makes 135 pounds, that's what she is -- an attraction. She happens to be a really good one, too.
Justino is a phenomenal, dominant fighter. She's special. She deserves her spot in the UFC, even if she can't physically make bantamweight as she claims, against the promises of several nutritionists. If women want to move up a few pounds for a big fight and the opportunity to knock off Cyborg, why not? To start a division that thin, just for her? No way. There's nothing to support that it could work, because the experience level isn't there. That could be different in a couple of years. The Women's Bantamweight division had several familiar names when it kicked off.
To further prove how shallow the 145 division is, take a look at Ediane Gomes. The Brazilian fighter was served a big fat piece of humble pie when she called UFC female fighters "strippers." Gomes was a top-3 featherweight who dropped to 135 pounds and was promptly beaten by divisional champion Tonya Evinger, and later, a barely .500 Raquel Pa'aluhi. Oops. She may very well never fight again.
Even take a look at the remaining talent available, outside of the aforementioned names. Charmaine Tweet (9-5) is tough as nails, but is 39 years old. Lina Lansberg (6-1) is 34, Latoya Walker (5-1) is 36. Cindy Dandois (6-2) has opted to fight at 135 pounds. The talent and demand aren't there.
Germaine de Randamie wants to fight Cris Cyborg, and is willing to move to 140 pounds to do so. When the UFC tried to put that together, Justino shut down the idea, saying that she wanted to defend her Invicta Championship...in a division where most women haven't competed their whole career, and are riding losing streaks?
Sound familiar?
By Sean Ross Sapp
