UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has no love lost between herself and Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, and she has shown no problem in vocalizing that sentiment to fight fans.
However, never has the “Rowdy” one gotten as heated on the subject as she did in an interview with Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole, where she went off on a tangent over Justino’s failed drug test for anabolic steroids back in January 2012.
“I’ve said before, I don’t care if she’s injecting horse semen into her eyeballs, I’ll fight her, but that’s just my personal decision,” Rousey said. “… This girl has been on steroids for so long and [has been] injecting herself for so long that she’s not even a woman anymore. She’s an ‘it.’ It’s not good for the women’s division. It’s not good at all … “If she comes in the UFC and I beat the [expletive] out of her and then I retire and become an action movie star, then the UFC is still going to be stuck with her. The division could die. She could ruin the whole sport.”
Justino has won two MMA fights by TKO since her failed drug test—both matchups were contested under the Invicta FC banner—and the latter bout against Marloes Coenen was where she captured the promotion’s inaugural featherweight title.
The Brazilian slugger has said on several occasions, as recently as last month with Iole, that she only used stanozolol to aid her in cutting weight, not for added strength or muscle mass.
Obviously, count Rousey in the camp of people not buying that argument.
Rousey, one of the UFC’s most recognizable faces, boasts a perfect 9-0 record inside the cage and has recorded a first-round finish in all but one of those bouts (which also ended with a submission).
Her most recent victory was a TKO win over fellow former Olympian Sara McMann at UFC 170 in February, the first time she finished an opponent with strikes, though some felt the stoppage was premature.
After rumors of squaring off with Justino, Gina Carano, Cat Zingano or Holly Holm next, the UFC decided to head in a different direction and pit the champ against Alexis Davis at UFC 175 on July 5.
The bout marks Rousey‘s third title defense in just over six months, a feat rarely seen in combat sports.
Davis enters the championship fight on the strength of five-straight victories, most recently winning a close split decision over Jessica Eye at UFC 170.
Are Rousey‘s comments warranted given Justino’s past, or is the 27-year-old superstar going way over the top here?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com