Tag: Cris Cyborg Justino

Dana White Doubles Down On Commitment To Cyborg

Its been a long and troublesome road for the UFC’s hunt for a legitimate female 145-pound champion. Germaine de Randamie defeated former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm back in February to become the division’s inaugural champion, however, after refusing to fight Cris “Cyborg” Justino in her first defense due to her history with performance-enhancing […]

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Its been a long and troublesome road for the UFC’s hunt for a legitimate female 145-pound champion.

Germaine de Randamie defeated former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm back in February to become the division’s inaugural champion, however, after refusing to fight Cris “Cyborg” Justino in her first defense due to her history with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), the promotion stripped “The Iron Lady” of her title.

Cyborg and Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson were expected to go head-to-head for the vacant UFC strap, however, Anderson was forced to pull out of the bout due to reasons not yet disclosed. Anderson was replaced by Invicta FC bantamweight champ Tonya Evinger who will step in to fill the void.

UFC President Dana White recently sat down with MMA Junkie to discuss the crazy ride to crowning a 145-pound champ, and said that ‘the least we can do’ is grant Justino a fight for the title:

“She’s had a rough go here in the UFC,” White said. “She hasn’t been thrilled with things that have been said, things that have been done. And to be honest with you, :  :  ‘Cyborg.’ So the least we can do is get our (expletive) together and get this woman a fight for the title.”

As for Anderson’s replacement, Evinger, White believes that the Invicta 135-pound champ is a woman who is going to step into the Octagon and bring the fight right to the Brazilian powerhouse – something others have been wary of in the past:

“(Anderson) had some personal problems and couldn’t do this fight,” he said. “And Tonya Evinger is a girl who has been around for a long time. She’s tough, she’s gritty, and what I’m really looking for is, I want a woman that’s going to go out and fight ‘Cyborg.’ I believe Tonya Evinger is that woman. We’ll see.”

White then went on to claim that Cyborg ‘owns’ the 145-pound division, and that any woman looking to fight at featherweight can expect to be standing opposite Justino inside the Octagon come fight night:

“We make it very clear: When you go into that division, you know who you’re going to be fighting. Basically, ‘Cyborg’ owns that division. You go into the 145-pound division and you’re fighting for a belt, you’re going to fight ‘Cyborg. “We signed ‘Cyborg,’ we made a commitment to ‘Cyborg,’ and not everything is easy and not everything is as fun as other divisions or whatever, but we made a commitment to this woman.”

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Dana White Doubles Down On Commitment To Cyborg

Its been a long and troublesome road for the UFC’s hunt for a legitimate female 145-pound champion. Germaine de Randamie defeated former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm back in February to become the division’s inaugural champion, however, after refusing to fight Cris “Cyborg” Justino in her first defense due to her history with performance-enhancing […]

The post Dana White Doubles Down On Commitment To Cyborg appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Its been a long and troublesome road for the UFC’s hunt for a legitimate female 145-pound champion.

Germaine de Randamie defeated former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm back in February to become the division’s inaugural champion, however, after refusing to fight Cris “Cyborg” Justino in her first defense due to her history with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), the promotion stripped “The Iron Lady” of her title.

Cyborg and Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson were expected to go head-to-head for the vacant UFC strap, however, Anderson was forced to pull out of the bout due to reasons not yet disclosed. Anderson was replaced by Invicta FC bantamweight champ Tonya Evinger who will step in to fill the void.

UFC President Dana White recently sat down with MMA Junkie to discuss the crazy ride to crowning a 145-pound champ, and said that ‘the least we can do’ is grant Justino a fight for the title:

“She’s had a rough go here in the UFC,” White said. “She hasn’t been thrilled with things that have been said, things that have been done. And to be honest with you, :  :  ‘Cyborg.’ So the least we can do is get our (expletive) together and get this woman a fight for the title.”

As for Anderson’s replacement, Evinger, White believes that the Invicta 135-pound champ is a woman who is going to step into the Octagon and bring the fight right to the Brazilian powerhouse – something others have been wary of in the past:

“(Anderson) had some personal problems and couldn’t do this fight,” he said. “And Tonya Evinger is a girl who has been around for a long time. She’s tough, she’s gritty, and what I’m really looking for is, I want a woman that’s going to go out and fight ‘Cyborg.’ I believe Tonya Evinger is that woman. We’ll see.”

White then went on to claim that Cyborg ‘owns’ the 145-pound division, and that any woman looking to fight at featherweight can expect to be standing opposite Justino inside the Octagon come fight night:

“We make it very clear: When you go into that division, you know who you’re going to be fighting. Basically, ‘Cyborg’ owns that division. You go into the 145-pound division and you’re fighting for a belt, you’re going to fight ‘Cyborg. “We signed ‘Cyborg,’ we made a commitment to ‘Cyborg,’ and not everything is easy and not everything is as fun as other divisions or whatever, but we made a commitment to this woman.”

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Olympic Boxer Praises Cyborg’s Striking Ability

Cris Cyborg is vamping up her striking training heading into her UFC featherweight title bout with Megan Anderson at UFC 214 next month (Sat. July 29, 2017), as she has brought in North American Boxing Federation middleweight champ Claressa Shields. The two-time Olympian recently sparred with Justino earlier this week and praised Justino’s performance inside the ring, […]

Cris Cyborg is vamping up her striking training heading into her UFC featherweight title bout with Megan Anderson at UFC 214 next month (Sat. July 29, 2017), as she has brought in North American Boxing Federation middleweight champ Claressa Shields. The two-time Olympian recently sparred with Justino earlier this week and praised Justino’s performance inside the ring, […]

Dana White Says Cyborg Will Still Fight At UFC 214

Former Invicta FC featherweight champ Cris “Cyborg” Justino has had her fair share of issues as of late. The Brazilian knockout artist became fed up with UFC strawweight Angela Magana’s taunting on social media, and delivered a punch to her face when they came head-to-head at the UFC fighter retreat. Justino is now facing battery […]

Former Invicta FC featherweight champ Cris “Cyborg” Justino has had her fair share of issues as of late. The Brazilian knockout artist became fed up with UFC strawweight Angela Magana’s taunting on social media, and delivered a punch to her face when they came head-to-head at the UFC fighter retreat. Justino is now facing battery […]

Cris Cyborg Unhappy With UFC, Willing To Fight Anyone Next

UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is one win away from tying the record for the most title defense in the UFC women’s history. Now, the question remains, is she the great women’s MMA fighter of all-time? That is up for debate no doubt. You can’t downplay her dominance in the UFC. Former Invicta featherweight

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UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is one win away from tying the record for the most title defense in the UFC women’s history. Now, the question remains, is she the great women’s MMA fighter of all-time? That is up for debate no doubt. You can’t downplay her dominance in the UFC.

Former Invicta featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino is arguably the best women’s fighter in the world right now. When asked about Jedrzejczyk, Cyborg, who has dominated her opponents for over a decade, doesn’t agree that Jedrzejczyk is the greatest female fighter of all-time just yet.

“Joanna is a great athlete and an example of what the UFC machine can do in terms of promotion and marketing,” Cyborg told MMA Fighting. “Of my last five fights, three were on Fight Pass. Joanna fought once on Fight Pass, was on the TV show Ultimate Fighter, and she normally fights as co-main event under fighters like (Conor) McGregor and Ronda (Rousey). You can do a lot of marketing over any athlete, but I’m the only athlete, men or women, that finished 90 percent of her fights by knockout.” Who’s the best MMA fighter of all times, I always left that for fans to decide,” she continued. “Media can influence some fans, but the truth always appears, as it did with the American hero Ronda Rousey.”

Since Germaine de Randamie beat Holly Holm to become the inaugural UFC featherweight champion earlier this year, Cyborg has been campaigning for a fight with the champ at UFC 214 in Anaheim, CA on July 29th. However, the UFC is attempting to fight an opponent for Cyborg. In her words, she is “waiting for the UFC to find an opponent for me because they can’t put their champion in the Octagon with me.”

Cyborg celebrated the anniversary of her UFC debut last week and remains confident that she would have broken former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey’s record already if the promotion did things differently.

“My UFC debut was a year ago, but, in reality, I’ve already fought five fights on my UFC contract,” Cyborg said. “If the UFC would’ve given me my belt just like they did with Ronda Rousey, I would have broken the record of title defenses already. I’m undefeated for 10 years and I’m a world champion, to take this title someone has to defeat me.”

Although it has been reported that Cyborg would fight at UFC 214, it’s still unclear whether she will compete at the event. Despite the unknown, she is still 100 percent confident that it will happen and is will to fight anyone.

“My next step is to stay focused, training to finish my contract with the UFC,” Cyborg said. “After that, I’ll know what my next steps will be. (…) I want to finish my contract. Whoever they put in front of me, I’ll fight. I’d like to fight someone who’s ranked in my weight division, someone like Megan Anderson, but there’s no ranking anymore. To come off a win doesn’t mean you will get the opportunity to fight for the belt.”

Former title contender Cat Zingano has reportedly been an option for Cyborg at UFC 214. However, there is one problem with that, she is not interested in the bout, but it comes back to her willingness to fight anyone at any given time.

“Cat Zingano is a great athlete, she fought at 125, went to 135, (but) her last win was in 2014,” the Brazilian said. “Let’s go, I don’t pick opponents. Whoever comes.”

Cyborg made it clear that she is planning to finish out her contract when it expires in October. However, she explained that her goal is to stay in the company.

“I’d like to stay in the UFC, but working together,” Cyborg said. “I believe I deserve to be respected as an athlete because I’m a pioneer in this sport.”

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Amanda Nunes Doesn’t Want To Fight Cris Cyborg

Amanda Nunes is putting her dreams of being a two weight world champion on hold. The current 135-pound champion expressed her interest in jumping up 10 pounds to compete for the newly formed female featherweight division’s title, which was won by Germaine de Randamie last month, in attempt to make history similar to Conor McGregor

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Amanda Nunes is putting her dreams of being a two weight world champion on hold.

The current 135-pound champion expressed her interest in jumping up 10 pounds to compete for the newly formed female featherweight division’s title, which was won by Germaine de Randamie last month, in attempt to make history similar to Conor McGregor and become a dual-weight UFC champ. With longtime female featherweight knockout artist Cris Cyborg finding her way to the UFC, however, Nunes’ plans seem to have changed.

During a recent interview with Brazil’s AG Fight (courtesy of FOX Sports) Nunes revealed that she no longer wants to jump up in weight, as she rather see her fellow countrywoman take her rightful place at the top of the division. Nunes also stated that a potential match-up against Cyborg would force her to take a year to properly prepare:

“I do not intend to fight with Cris”, Nunes said. “But my intention was to fight [Holly Holm or Germaine de Randamie], who were in my category, but Cris is coming back now and I’m not interested in going up. I want to see her as the champion. To fight with her, I would have to gain weight and gain muscle. I am at 135 pounds. To do such a job (at 145), I would need at least a year.”

Nunes went on to further explain herself, pointing out that the current champion de Randamie is already someone she has defeated, and challenger Holly Holm is a former champion in her weight class. With an experienced featherweight such as Cyborg now getting involved in the picture, Nunes has been forced to scrap those plans:

“That’s what I said: ‘This category is for Cris, but then she tested positive’”, Nunes said. “But then, two girls from the 135-pound class moved up, one was coming off two defeats and the other was not in the rankings. The champion [Germaine de Randamie] is a girl that I have already defeated. I asked to go up because I can be champion in two categories.

“My point of view was that they were two athletes from my category and that Cris was not in the game at the time.”

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