Here we go again.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White recently told the always-present cameras of TMZ Sports that former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey absolutely wants to fight Cristiane Justino. But that’s where it ends, as it’s a tale we’ve heard before but has never actually come to light.
That said, White says “Rowdy” is back on track and back to being “nasty” in anticipation of a return to action later this year after some much-deserved time off.
“I can tell you this, Ronda wants to fight Cyborg. She absolutely, positively wants to fight Cyborg, so we will see what happens. I mean, we are talking about her coming back this year, but we will see what happens. Ronda wanted time off. The girl busted ass for four years. She wanted time off, deserved time off and she just got a bunch of little injuries fixed up. She is getting nasty again and her head is in the right place and I think we will see her soon. I’m hoping she fights this year.”
Cyborg is fresh of a second-round beatdown of Lina Lansberg, which went down this past weekend (Sat., Sept. 24, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 95 in Brasilia, Brazil (video highlights here). It was a fight that saw Cris shrink down to 141.6 pounds, only to balloon back up to 170 a day later.
The massive fluctuation in weight was especially alarming to Joe Rogan, who begged UFC to open up a featherweight division to prevent Cris from taking part in brutal weight cuts.
.@ufc please open up a 145lbs division for @criscyborg. Her torturing herself to make 140 is insane and she’s incredibly entertaining.
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) September 25, 2016
Cutting weight has always been an issue for the muscular striker, which is why a fight between her and Rousey has never come to fruition, as Ronda is adamant she will not go up to face a proven cheater. That said, a fight between the two will stay locked away in fantasy land soon barring a complete change of heart from Rousey.
A title fight against current 135-pound champion Amanda Nunes is the most likely scenario for Ronda should she return this year. Meanwhile, Cyborg is taking some time off before the promotion finds another opponent for her to fight at 140 pounds.