Cris Cyborg has a message for the UFC regarding a potential fight between her and Ronda Rousey.
“This fight has to happen,” Cyborg said on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Wednesday morning. “If the UFC thinks I don’t deserve this fight, don’t do it for me. Do it for all the fans.”
Talk of a superfight between the two best women in the world has intensified since Rousey defeated Bethe Corriea via knockout in just 34 seconds Saturday at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro. UFC president Dana White said afterward on the FOX Sports 1 post-fight show that he thought Rousey-Cyborg could do 2.5 million pay-per-view buys.
Hyperbole or not, it could be one of the biggest fights in UFC history. Rousey has defeated her last three opponents in just over a minute-and-a-half. Cyborg has also crushed all comers in her division by knockout recently.
However, White and Rousey have stood by one principle: the fight won’t happen until Cyborg makes Rousey’s 135-pound division. Cyborg is currently the Invicta FC 145-pound champion and has never made 135 in her career. The Brazilian doesn’t seem like she wants to, either.
Cyborg (14-1, 1 NC) said Rousey should move up to fight her at 145 or 140, because Rousey has beaten every other contender in her division already. She did not mention making 135 pounds once on ESPN.
“All the champions do this when you clean your division,” Cyborg said. … “The champ goes up.”
Rousey (12-0) has continued to harp on Cyborg’s failed test for steroids four years ago. She said again over the weekend that if Cyborg can make 145 pumped full of performance-enhancing drugs, then she should be able to make 135 without them.
Cyborg, whose real name is Cristiane Justino, maintains that she is clean after multiple tests recently.
“She cannot say anything about my doping,” Cyborg said. “It was 2011. I have passed six tests and the same exams she’s doing, because we’re in the same organization now.
“I don’t think it’s right she can say something she cannot prove.”
On SportsCenter, Cyborg promised a “different” kind of fight if she and Rousey lock up.
“You’ll see,” Cyborg said. “Violence.”
But there remains plenty of doubt that the superfight will ever get made.
“I’m ready for this fight for a long time,” Cyborg said. “But if it don’t happen now, it wont happen. If the UFC want to make this fight happen, they can make it happen. Tomorrow, I would take this fight. I’m ready.”