(If the internet wasn’t broken before, it sure as hell is now. via Cyborg’s Instagram)
Are you sitting down, Potato Nation? We hope so, because we just got word of a story so shocking, so unexpected, that it will rock you to your very core. We’re talking something bigger than the Reebok deal, the fighter lawsuit, and most certainly bigger than the “The Time Is Now” press conference. Are you ready?
Cris “Cyborg” Justino has CANCELLED her drop to the bantamweight division. As She told Tatame:
I can’t. From now on, I will only fight at my weight or in a catchweight. I haven’t fought in a long time and that’s why I want to go back to my division.
The news comes just weeks after Cyborg was forced to pull out of her expected bantamweight debut at Invicta 10 due to injury. Shortly thereafter, the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion declared that she would be “postponing” her drop to 135 in order to defend her Invicta featherweight title. In addition to her reasons listed above, Justino also stated a lack of effort on Ronda Rousey‘s part in making their superfight happen led to her decision to abandon the weight cut.
To call Cyborg’s long teased-at drop to bantamweight “ambitious” would be giving it a little too much credit. Justino has been declared physically unable to make the cut to 135 in the recent past, walks around at about two Frankie Edgars, and possesses the kind of muscle mass that makes her able to body slam 205 pound former UFC champions. The thought of Cyborg facing Rousey was an intriguing one for a small window of time, but between the former’s inactivity and the latter’s rapidly evolving skillset that time has all but passed. The matchup has lost all its heat, and it appears that even Cyborg has finally realized it.
The upside: Cyborg can continue smashing each and every challenger Invicta is able to find her, and now won’t have to feel guilty about eating that second sleeve of Oreos. Sounds like a win-win to me.