Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino has never had a nice word to say about former UFC bantamweight queen “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey.
The two have long been considered to be the top two female fighters on the planet, with a super fight always being discussed, but never quite coming to fruition. That idea has been put on the back burner as of now, however.
Heading into her UFC 193 (November 14, 2015) bout with Holly Holm, Rousey was a massive favorite as usual which is why fans were shocked when the “Rowdy” one was knocked out cold in the second round.
In the aftermath of such a brutal loss, Rousey has received an endless amount of negative backlash from fans, something “Cyborg” feels terrible about:
“It’s terrible,” said Cyborg, who will defend her Invicta FC featherweight title against Daria Ibragimova here Saturday night in the Invicta FC 15 main event. “When you’re there, every body is with you. I feel sorry about this. I know this, because before something happened in my career — the doping — and before everybody is with you [and then they’re not]. But I love my fans. Some fans kept with me and I’m sure she has that, too. It’s sad, but sometimes it’s good so you can see who’s with you. You can see who you really have to appreciate.” Justino told MMAFighting.
Continuing on, the Brazilian slugger admitted that she feels for the “Rowdy” one, as “Cyborg” knows the hurt feeling very well:
“This is not nice,” Cyborg said. “Losing a fight, winning — it happens. But these people make fun. … I know it’s not nice. I know she hurts now and I know depression.”
Much of the backlash towards Rousey has undoubtedly been due to the former champion’s notorious arrogance and cockiness so to say leading up to her fights. Touching on this, “Cyborg” said that losing is not the problem, but rather the talking:
“Always you can lose,” Cyborg said. “You can lose, you can win. It’s not embarrassing. It’s embarrassing when you speak before you fight. It’s embarrassing speaking bad. I think you have to work hard on what you say, because if you lose, when you come back from the airport you have to have a pillow on your face.”
Remaining relatively quiet regarding the media since her loss, Rousey’s future is currently unclear. It was thought that she would return at July’s UFC 200, but it was recently reported that she would need more time off, although it’s still thought that she will return at some point.
Despite their bitter rivalry, Justino hopes to see the “Rowdy” one back in action at some point, noting all she’s done for woman’s MMA:
“I think she’d like to use this to challenge herself and get better,” Cyborg said. “To come in and change. Something bad in life has to happen before you change and grow. I can’t say anything bad about her. She’s been good for women’s MMA. She opened a lot of doors. I know I [fought] before her, but she had opportunities and she’s handled it and helped everybody.”
Will Rousey compete again, and will the paths of these two female pioneers ever cross?
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