Thinking back just five years in MMA history, it seems almost bizarre that Dana White dismissed women in the UFC. Back then Strikeforce was the leading promotion for women’s MMA. Housing future UFC bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey, the pioneering Gina Carano and of course the feared Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino, Strikeforce was the place to be for WMMA as early as 2006. Little did the UFC know they’d passed up on a good thing for a long time, and once they acquired ‘Rowdy,’ they ran with that very profitable ball.
Crossing over to the UFC in 2013, Rousey completely decimated the division. Holding the 135-pound strap for 1074 days, ‘Rowdy’ currently holds every notable record in the book. Running alongside Rousey’s career but never quite crossing paths was Cris Cyborg. The Brazilian knockout machine is the current Invicta FC featherweight champion and has crossed over to the UFC in Rousey’s absence. Since being demolished by Holly Holm at UFC 193, ‘Rowdy’ stepped away from the limelight. Then, just this month, her big return was finally announced.
Nunes vs. Rousey
After the belt was snatched by Holm, Miesha Tate swooped in with a rear naked choke at UFC 196, before Amanda Nunes wrecked ‘Cupcake’ at UFC 200. Returning at UFC 207, Rousey gets the immediate title fight with Nunes, and Cris Cyborg is very unhappy about it. Unable to make the 135-pound limit, Justino has been competing at catchweight in her two UFC fights so far. Stuck in a difficult spot, Cyborg’s requests for a women’s featherweight division have been snubbed by Dana White.
Taking to her Facebook page, Cyborg shared a petition to build a UFC women’s featherweight division. The Brazilian both signed the petition, and left a statement quite clearly aimed at Dana White:
At the time of writing this petition is at 1000 signatures. During a recent interview with MixedMartialArts.com, Cyborg blasted Dana White for being a liar:
“Dana Lies For Ronda”
“People ask me, ‘What did Dana White do for Ronda that he didn’t do for ‘Cyborg’?’ Well, he’s lied. He also never said Ronda looks like Wanderlei (Silva) with a dress. He never said that about her even though he said that about me. For almost six years, I’ve had to see him control the media. Hear Ronda say I have a (penis) and that I have to cut my (penis) off to make 135. I’ve had to deal with this,”
“Before, I didn’t even speak English. I couldn’t defend myself, didn’t have any opportunity to defend myself. I was in one place & didn’t even speak English,” she said.
“Dana Controls The Media”
“I do MMA just for sport. I’ve been doing this 10 years. I haven’t lost in 10 years and they don’t respect me,” she added. “Tell me, if there was an American girl who went 10 years, undefeated, you don’t think they’d make something special?”
“(Dana White) knows he can control the media. Anything he says – that I don’t have opponents, that I don’t have a division, that they can’t make a division – people will believe what he says,” she alleged.
“He knows he can manipulate everybody. I think everything Dana says, he is trying to manipulate everybody.”
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