Cris Cyborg is Ronda Rousey’s most anticipated potential opponent. Holly Holm is Rousey’s next foe. The two women filmed the movie “Fight Valley” together last week, and Holm said the encounter wasn’t awkward at all. Just the opposite.
Holm said as she and Cyborg took a photo together, Cyborg noticed they were around the same height.
“She goes, ‘Hey, you’re my height. How tall are you?'” Holm told MMA Fighting. “I said, ‘I’m 5’8.’ She goes, ‘I’m 5’8. There’s hope. I’m gonna get there.’ That was pretty much it.”
Cyborg was referring to a possible cut to 135 pounds for a UFC women’s bantamweight title fight. The UFC has stipulated that Cyborg will only be brought into the promotion if she can make the weight. Cyborg, whose real name is Cristiane Justino, is currently the Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion and walks around near 170 pounds.
Justino is still hoping the UFC will agree to a catchweight bout between her and Rousey. The fight would be one of the biggest in UFC history.
“I can tell she wants it real bad,” Holm said. “She does.”
Of course, Rousey might not have the title if Cyborg does shed the pounds. Holm will challenge Rousey in the main event of UFC 193 on Nov. 15 in Melbourne, Australia. The fight will take place at Etihad Stadium and the UFC will attempt to set its attendance record with a potential crowd of more than 70,000 on hand.
If Holm (9-0) is the champion, she would not the shut the door on fighting Cyborg at a 140-pound catchweight or even at 145, Cyborg’s natural weight class. Holm, a former three-division boxing champion, has competed in boxing matches as heavy as 152 pounds.
“I’m not against going higher in weight,” Holm said. “Right now, it’s not something I’m really focused on obviously, because I’m just thinking about the fight ahead. But I never put anything as no options. Anything is something that can be put together.”
Holm, 33, will be a significant underdog against Rousey. Some don’t even think she earned the title shot. Miesha Tate, who has won four in a row, was expected to get her third crack at Rousey, but the UFC chose Holm instead. Ironically, Tate is also in the cast of “Fight Valley” and the three women, who have Rousey in common in an odd way, spent two days with each other last week.
“I actually really enjoyed getting to know them,” Holm said. “Don’t get me wrong. If I was to fight them in the future, which is totally possible, I would still want to hit them just as hard as I want to hit anybody before I met them. Same for them. We’re all professionals. We’re all just chasing the dream. There’s no reason to be hateful.”
Holm said Tate expressed her displeasure with not getting the next opportunity against Rousey and Holm sympathized. Cyborg, on the other hand, picked Holm’s brain a bit about the future.
“She was kind of asking me about my weight, because we’re about the same height,” Holm said. “She really does want to go to 135. She wants to be able to do that.”