It’s official. Former women’s featherweight Strikeforce and current Invicta featherweight champion Cris Justino will make her bantamweight debut on December 5th at Invicta 10. No opponent or venue for the Brazilian has been named. The UFC made the news official on Monday.
Justino, 29, is 12-1 with 1 no-contest in professional mixed martial arts, but has never competed in the bantamweight division. She last competed in MMA July of 2013 where she won the Invicta featherweight champion by defeating Marloes Coenen via third round TKO. She lost a muay Thai bout in March of 2014 to Jorina Baars at Lion Fight 14.
The subject of Justino’s move to bantamweight, however, has been controversial in the sport. While Justino and UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey have a rivalry largely played out through the media, talk of putting a fight together between the two has hit a number of roadblocks, not least of which was Justino’s long-time insistence she couldn’t safely make the ten-pound drop to the bantamweight division. After consideration, however, Justino said in July she’d attempt to make the push down.
The UFC also announced Monday that Invicta 9 is set to take place on November 1st at the RiverCenter in Davenport, Iowa. That event will be headlined by a flyweight title fight between champion Barb Honchak and challenger Takayo Hashi.
Both events will air on UFC Fight Pass.