Ronda Rousey Vs. Cristiane Justino: Should ‘Rowdy’ And ‘Cyborg’ Fight At A Catchweight Or At Bantamweight?
At UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey continued her dominance by knocking out Bethe Correia within 34 seconds of the first round, using some of Correia’s own tactics against her. Needless to say, it was a remarkable performance that many found entertaining despite its length.
The aforementioned accomplishment helps build the propaganda that Ronda Rousey is the number one female MMA fighter in the world today. However, there are some who debate this statement when another champion from another division seems to be somewhat equal on accolades. Cristiane Justino, known professionally as Cris Cyborg or just “Cyborg,” has a resume that is just as impressive or even more impressive by the numbers. Cyborg has 12 first-round knockouts with the fastest one being 16 seconds, just two seconds short of Rousey. Also, she has a 14-fight undefeated streak over the course of 10 years. However, Cyborg is considered the number two female MMA fighter in the world because she lost her first fight, and she’s not in the UFC.
Therefore, many MMA fans for years have lobbied that Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg should fight to finally find out who is truly the best female MMA fighter in the world. Unfortunately, there is always an argument between fighting at a catchweight or if Cyborg should drop 10 pounds to bantamweight to fight Rousey in her division. Which one should it be?
After years of delay, Chis Cyborg has officially signed with the UFC so she could fight Ronda Rousey. The signing was reported by Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight, according to MMA Fighting. In this case, Cyborg needs to drop 10 pounds to fight. She signed on to fight Rousey for her championship at 135 pounds. It wouldn’t be right for Rousey to challenge Cyborg for the Invicta FC featherweight championship or Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the UFC women’s strawweight championship when she is not in their weight class. The same standard applies to Cyborg.
Right now, Cris Cyborg is at 140 pounds and has five more to go. She’s losing the weight intelligently given the fact she was ripped at 140 pounds; her losing weight is a controlled amount of muscle mass reduction. Cyborg fans are concerned she’ll lose her striking power with such a loss, but they need to have faith that Cyborg’s technique is more than enough to compensate such.
The above scenario is so Cris Cyborg can sign with UFC to fight in the bantamweight division. However, when it comes to Ronda Rousey and Cyborg fighting at their optimum just so everyone could finally know who is the best, that is definitely a catchweight fight. For the longest time, Cyborg wanted to fight Rousey at a catchweight for just that reason. She never cared about the UFC bantamweight championship, yet Dana White, the Armbar Nation (Rousey’s fans), and Rousey herself were against the idea, citing Cyborg’s one no contest due to failing a drug test. Even today, Rousey loves to push that on everyone on why Cyborg can’t make it to 135 pounds because she is on steroids, as reported by Fox Sports.
The problem with Ronda Rousey’s claim is that for five years since that no contest, Cris Cyborg has been heavily tested for performance enhancing drugs; probably more than most fighters are tested. As a result, Cyborg has been clean at 140 pounds since her one positive test. Still, Rousey’s media manipulation of a past event resulted in Cyborg threatening legal action, as reported by Yahoo! Sports. It is unknown if Cyborg will follow through with it, but it is highly unlikely at this point.
Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg is probably the most anticipated fight ever for women’s MMA. But from what it seems, Ronda Rousey is borrowing a tactic from Floyd Mayweather by dictating the terms of the fight. She refuses to fight at a catchweight and wants it to be in the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division. Not only that, it is believed if Cyborg does make the weight cut, she has to work up the ranks to even earn her shot. But if the stars align correctly, it will surely be epic.
[Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images]
