Tag: Cristiane Cyborg Justino

Once upon a time Ronda Rousey was the most pulverizing force in mixed martial arts (MMA), as she sat atop the combat sports mountain with an undefeated professional record of 12-0 and nearly all her victories coming by way of dominant fashion.

The only woman thought to give ‘Rowdy’ a run for her money inside the Octagon was longtime Strikeforce and Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino, a woman who possesses some of the most devastating power we have ever seen in women’s MMA today.

A super-fight matchup between the two iconic MMA stars was long discussed, however, Rousey refused to meet Justino at a catchweight for a potential bout as she did not want to fight outside of her championship weight of 135 pounds.

Rousey would go on to suffer the first defeat of her career against highly decorated kickboxing champion Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, and in quite dramatic fashion, when Holm absolutely overwhelmed the now-former bantamweight queen with her superior striking ability.

Following the loss Rousey would enter a great state of depression, admitting to thoughts of suicide and leaving her future inside the Octagon in great question in the eyes of many MMA fans across the world.

Rousey has not seen the inside of a UFC Octagon since being dismantled by ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’, and since then ‘Cyborg’ has made her presence felt for the first time under a UFC banner as she defeated Leslie Smith in just over a minute of her debut bout with the promotion at UFC 198 in her home country of Brazil.

‘Cyborg’ has been lobbying hard for a shot at Rousey since her upset title loss, and most recently took to her Facebook page to issue quite the lengthy challenge to the former 135-pound champ:

“Why didn’t you give the Olympic Gold another attempt? How come you haven’t asked to rematch that girl who KO’d you?

Are you dieting right? Do you really think you deserve a title shot coming off a loss and year layoff?

These little inconsistencies in your quest for perfection start pecking away at the image you’ve been able to create through the media.

Perfect never leaves room for improvement, especially when you are too focused on yourself to see what life is really like outside of your “exclusive” Entourage.”

Justino stated that Rousey was a ‘bully’ leading up to her fight with Holm, and that when ‘Cyborg’ first moved to the United States, ‘Rousey’ took shots at her through the media knowing she did not then know how to speak English:

“When we worry about marketing an image created by the media, our bigger goals are sacrificed. You can’t look up, because your face is in a pillow after being the bully and getting your ass kicked.

Being humble enough to not believe the hype around you can be difficult.

When I was growing up in Curitiba Brazil, before I moved to California, I was a simple girl who trained at the world’s toughest gym.

I spent hours inside the gym and would train all day because I loved to punch, elbow, kick, knee, and fight. Nothing got in the way of that.

When I moved to Cali, I was a complete outsider. I couldn’t speak English, and you used that opportunity to bully me in the media.

At the lowest point of my career you went out of your way to say the most hurtful and mean things you could, but no matter how hard you tried, my confidence wouldn’t sink.”

In 2012 it was announced that Justino had tested positive for a banned substance following her successful title defense against Hiroko Yamanaka, and was thus stripped of her Strikeforce title and the win was ruled a No Contest.

‘Cyborg’ noted that following the incident she believed her world would end, but instead she sharpened her tools in the gym and would eventually make her long-awaited UFC debut years later:

“I am not perfect, and I know that.
That’s when I realized you didn’t really want to fight me.

When you want to fight someone, you fight them. Suddenly the “best female fighter the world had ever seen” was afraid to move up to 140lbs– to make a champion vs champion fight. That was a fast and effect lesson in her lack of confidence.

Not every move I have made has been perfect. I lost my first world title due to a failed PED test and that experience was difficult. I thought the world would end, but it didn’t. I continued to grow and mature as a woman.

I stayed in the gym, served my suspension, learned my lesson and returned to the cage. I improved my skills and continued to get better.

I also signed up for USADA a year before making my UFC Debut. I finally got a chance to fight in the Octagon. Everyone has noticed.”

While Justino insists she is not trying to get ‘Rowdy’ to change her ways and become ‘a better person’, but instead the Brazilian wants her to prove herself as the best female fighter that ‘the media made her out to be’.

‘Cyborg’ would end her lengthy post with a bit of a jab at Rousey, stating that she is the No. 1-ranked combatant in ESPN’s WMMA pound-for-pound rankings:

“When I see little girls rocking their DNB shirts and reebok shoes in the supermarket, I think about what poor examples of sportsmanship you have displayed.

I think about you cursing The Preacher’s Daughter at the weigh ins, refusing to shake Miesha Tate’s hand following your victory, and all of the mean things you have said about me and my family.

I hope you come back and get this ‘redemption’ people think you deserve. I am now in the UFC and you will not be able to use that excuse to avoid a fight with me. Your record is no longer perfect, and we have all seen your flaws, you can not take a shot–

I’m not trying to inspire you to suddenly become a better person, or become anything you’re not. But there was a time in your life when you told people you wanted to fight me.

Maybe you didn’t quite understand the way the wold worked then, but you also didn’t care what anyone thought

I guess what I’m trying to tell you is that you don’t need to be the champ to fight me. Your flaws–your unsuccessful attempts at greatness or even mediocrity– are real.

The media made you out to be the greatest female fighter of all time, and that is beautiful, because now everyone knows the real reason why you avoided a fight against Cris Cyborg. P4P #1 in the World for WMMA according to ESPN.”

Do you think we’ll ever see Rousey in a UFC Octagon again? And would a matchup against ‘Cyborg’ be a possibility for the former 135-pound champ?

You can check out Justino’s full post here.

The post Cris Cyborg: Everyone Knows Why Ronda Rousey Avoided Me appeared first on LowKick MMA.

The legendary career of the once undefeated women’s bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey was all head-kicked away by the now-former 135-pound champion Holly Holm, in their main event title clash at UFC 193 last November.

Rousey was once viewed as the baddest chick on the planet and you would be lucky enough to have escaped the first round of a bout with ‘Rowdy’ back in her heyday.

Lower down in the MMA promotion’s ladder, however, was another women racking up a rather impressive first round finish rate of her own, as Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino ruled (and still rules to this very day) the Invicta FC featherweight division.

A bout between Rousey and ‘Cyborg’ has been heavily discussed amongst MMA fans throughout the years, but sadly it has never come to fruition given the Brazilian’s reluctance to drop down to 135-pounds for the then-champion’s title.

‘Cyborg’ has since made her UFC debut, successfully defeating Leslie Smith via knockout in the first round of their bout at UFC 199 in Justino’s hometown of Curitiba, Brazil.

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, courtesy of MMA Fighting, ‘Cyborg’ discussed the possibility of finally meeting Rousey inside the Octagon given she is no longer champion and no longer has the leverage to dodge a catchweight stipulation:

“I think this fight has to happen,” Cyborg said. “I think Ronda (said) a lot of things about me, a lot of bad things. A lot of fans forget about, but I never forget about.

I would like to fight her in the cage. I think we have a lot of things to talk in the cage, and not outside the cage. I hope she’s coming back. I want to fight soon. I don’t have time to wait.

I think it would be an amazing fight and all fans would see it,” she said. “I think it would be the biggest fight ever. Me and Ronda Rousey. Everybody wanna watch.”

Justino was then asked if she or her team has reached out to the UFC for a possible bout with Rousey:

“This is something you don’t need to ask,” Cyborg said. “They already know this is the biggest fight in women’s MMA. I think I don’t have to ask it. They know I don’t choose opponents. They already know.”

The timing for a potential super-fight with Rousey couldn’t be more perfect, according to Justino, as all of the other elite 135-pound women already have dancing partners. If a bout with Rousey does fall through, ‘Cyborg’ and current women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate could potentially throw-down next:

“The biggest fights will happen now, Holly Holm (vs. Valentina Shevchenko) and Miesha Tate (vs. Amanda Nunes). I think, probably, I’ll fight that biggest fight,” Cyborg said.

“We have to see what happens. We have to see who wants to fight me. Miesha Tate said she wants to fight me at 140. Let’s see. A lot of people like to say but no one signs the contract. I’m ready. Who my fans want to watch, I’ll fight and I’m ready.”

While it’s been well noted that ‘Cyborg’ despieses cutting weight bellow her usual home of 145-pounds, the Brazilian is still holding onto hope that the UFC will one day introduce a women’s featherweight division in the near future:

“When you think about, I say man, I don’t want,” Cyborg said. “When you really think, I don’t want because it’s really hard, really stressful. I love training,

I train a lot, but for 140 it’s worse. You have to run every day. I ran six miles in the morning, six miles at night, and train MMA and other arts, too. It’s a lot of work, a lot of work. … Man, it’s no easy.

George Lockhart is very good. I think I need some more time between fights at 140. I think 140 all the time is not good for my body.

I think I’m asking for this for a lot of years, for my division (in the UFC),” she continued. “They say they don’t have a lot of girls at 145. I would think they have a lot of girls.

But they say it’s hard to make one division of 145 for now. They opened for me at 140. I’m open for big fights and it would be my dream to make my division in the UFC.

It makes me sad that I don’t have my division, but they can make the biggest fights for all my fans. ESPN says I’m the number one pound for pound in women’s MMA, and I think if the UFC wants to invest in women’s MMA, I think I have to be in the UFC.”

You can check out Justino’s full interview here bellow:

The post ‘Cyborg’ Says She Still Wants A Fight With Ronda Rousey appeared first on LowKick MMA.