Dana White: UFC starting women’s 145 division with or without Cris Cyborg

It looks like featherweight is coming to the UFC, even if Cris Cyborg has no immediate plans to step back in the Octagon again soon.

Things are getting mighty interesting around Cris Cyborg and the UFC. The Invicta featherweight champ and former Strikeforce champion has had two bouts under the UFC’s banners so far, both catch weight fights at 140lbs, and they’ve proved to be a success.

But, that success hasn’t come without controversy, almost all of which surrounds Cyborg’s weight cut. Some fans demand that she drops to 135, where she can fight in the bantamweight division, others have questioned why the UFC isn’t building a featherweight division around Cyborg. Neither side seems particularly happy with her catchweight bouts in-between the two. And it appears that the UFC has heard that unhappiness and is looking to solve it.

In a recent interview with FOX Sports Australia, UFC president Dana White elaborated on comments that the promotion had offered Cyborg two featherweight title fights (transcript via MMA Fighting):

“She was offered two fights at 145 pounds, she turned them both down,” White said. “The first fight, she said she only had eight weeks and that wasn’t enough time to make 145 pounds. And then she gave no reason for the second time. But the answer is yes. The answer is yes, we’re going to make a 145-pound division, whether it’s with Cyborg or not.”

Whether the UFC has to go ahead without Cyborg, it does seem like a move driven by the fighter’s success in the UFC. Her bout against Lina Lansberg was the most-watched UFC cable event headlined by a women’s bout in the promotion’s history. That’s the kind of unabashed success that can turn what seemed like a complete non-starter into a priority.

For Cyborg’s part, however, it appears that she’s going to be taking some time off. At least until March of 2017, to recover from what she herself described as a “brutal weight cut,” and the effects of severe depression. Will the UFC plan a bout in the meantime, just to get the division started? Or, will they wait to open it with Cyborg in a bout for the vacant title? And if she can’t return to competition even that soon, will the UFC really try and build a women’s featherweight division without a feature star?

It looks like featherweight is coming to the UFC, even if Cris Cyborg has no immediate plans to step back in the Octagon again soon.

Things are getting mighty interesting around Cris Cyborg and the UFC. The Invicta featherweight champ and former Strikeforce champion has had two bouts under the UFC’s banners so far, both catch weight fights at 140lbs, and they’ve proved to be a success.

But, that success hasn’t come without controversy, almost all of which surrounds Cyborg’s weight cut. Some fans demand that she drops to 135, where she can fight in the bantamweight division, others have questioned why the UFC isn’t building a featherweight division around Cyborg. Neither side seems particularly happy with her catchweight bouts in-between the two. And it appears that the UFC has heard that unhappiness and is looking to solve it.

In a recent interview with FOX Sports Australia, UFC president Dana White elaborated on comments that the promotion had offered Cyborg two featherweight title fights (transcript via MMA Fighting):

“She was offered two fights at 145 pounds, she turned them both down,” White said. “The first fight, she said she only had eight weeks and that wasn’t enough time to make 145 pounds. And then she gave no reason for the second time. But the answer is yes. The answer is yes, we’re going to make a 145-pound division, whether it’s with Cyborg or not.”

Whether the UFC has to go ahead without Cyborg, it does seem like a move driven by the fighter’s success in the UFC. Her bout against Lina Lansberg was the most-watched UFC cable event headlined by a women’s bout in the promotion’s history. That’s the kind of unabashed success that can turn what seemed like a complete non-starter into a priority.

For Cyborg’s part, however, it appears that she’s going to be taking some time off. At least until March of 2017, to recover from what she herself described as a “brutal weight cut,” and the effects of severe depression. Will the UFC plan a bout in the meantime, just to get the division started? Or, will they wait to open it with Cyborg in a bout for the vacant title? And if she can’t return to competition even that soon, will the UFC really try and build a women’s featherweight division without a feature star?