The epic saga of UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey vs. former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino continues following an interview between UFC President Dana White and Toronto’s CP24 news station. According to White, Cyborg will try to make the bantamweight division’s 135-pound limit “for her next fight” (h/t MMAJunkie.com’s Mike Bohn).
The news comes a day after Cyborg and UFC brass confirmed that the current Invicta FC featherweight champion is currently under contract with the UFC. Despite never fighting for the promotion, the Brazilian striker represents one of the biggest names in women’s MMA and is easily the biggest potential opponent for Rousey. That long-term value prompted the world’s largest MMA promotion to sign the fighter to a deal on the hope that she will one day fight at bantamweight.
There have long been rumbles that Zuffa, the UFC’s parent company, was interested in signing a deal with Cyborg. In January, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta stated to ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto that the company was pursuing a deal with Cyborg, and, in the aftermath of Rousey‘s 14-second win over Cat Zingano at UFC 184, White openly avoided questions regarding Cyborg’s relationship with Zuffa.
However, while White flatly stated that her next fight will be at 135 pounds, that has not yet been confirmed or denied by either Invicta FC or Cyborg’s camp. The current plan, according to Fox Sports’ Elias Cepeda, is to have Cyborg defend her Invicta FC featherweight belt in July opposite a yet-to-be-named opponent, while Rousey faces Bethe Correia in August.
Either way, while Cyborg making bantamweight remains a huge hurdle, the bout is much closer to becoming a reality. Stick with Bleacher Report for more updates on this story as they become available.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com