UFC News: Negotiations Under Way For Ronda Rousey Versus Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino Fight In December

At UFC 190, UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey continued to prove why she is the arguably the best female fighter on the planet, and potentially in history. However, there is some doubt left in the eyes of many fans as she has yet to face who others believe is the best female fighter on the planet in Cris “Cyborg” Justino. Cyborg is currently in Invicta FC, where she is their Women’s Featherweight Champion.

UFC President Dana White has said in public and most recently after Ronda Rousey’s last fight recently that if Cyborg wants the fight, she can have it. They’ll even put the Women’s Bantamweight Title on the line. The only thing was that she would have to cut weight to meet the Bantamweight requirements, and be willing to do drug testing that all UFC competitors have to do.

According to ESPN, Cyborg’s camp says that she is willing to cut weight for the fight with Ronda Rousey. This is a big deal, as this claim was made before but never ended up happening. On top of this, ESPN also reports that UFC is currently negotiating with Cyborg for her to face Ronda Rousey at the December 5 UFC show at AT&T Stadium.

Cyborg’s manager George Prajin had this to say about her fighting in the UFC.

“I don’t negotiate in the media, nor do I disclose negotiations to the press. What I can say, and the only reason I say this is because of what is going on between Tito [Ortiz] and Dana — I can confirm that I had multiple conversations with the UFC in the last week regarding Cris and a potential fight [against Rousey] in December. I can also confirm the end result of those conversations is that Cris is agreeable to fighting Ronda on Dec. 5 at Cowboys Stadium [at 135 pounds].”

If Cyborg’s manager is telling the truth, it appears as if this fight will happen like rumors have stated. The question people had before was when and where, and we finally have those plans as well. Of course, this is only if the story George claims is the truth.

Tito Ortiz seemingly backed up these statements when on AXS TV’s Inside MMA show, saying as follows.

“I’ve heard from Cris [Justino] actually that the fight that’s supposed to be happening at the Cowboy’s arena, They offered the fight to Cris. I know her management said yes and I’ve told her, ‘Let’s do it.’ So I guess the ball’s all in Ronda [Rousey]’s corner and Ronda wants to do it. Dana said if Cris came down to 135 they’ll make the fight happen, so let’s see if Ronda accepts the fight.”

This is said to be a lie however, according to UFC President Dana White. White told Yahoo Sports as follows.

“That was a complete lie. It’s 100 percent a lie. First of all, the UFC doesn’t even talk to Tito Ortiz, so let’s start there. But we haven’t offered any fight to [Justino]. Tito Ortiz is just making this [expletive] up. In no way, shape or form did we offer her a fight against Ronda at Cowboys Stadium. Completely untrue. The problem is, this kind of thing gets out there and picks up momentum when there is no truth to it. And it was just something that he decided to make up. But it’s not true.”

The biggest hole in White’s comments was that he has offered Cyborg a fight with Rousey publicly. He said she could have it whenever she wanted it, in fact. It, of course, would simply have to be under the UFC banner, and Cyborg would simply have to cut weight, which she is willing to do. So clearly, White didn’t listen to his own comments.

However, that does not mean UFC offered her the fight on December 5 as stated. This could simply be a stunt by Cyborg’s management to push the fight into happening with fan support.

White claimed that Miesha Tate is the next in line to face Ronda Rousey for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. However, this would be the third fight between the two. Ronda has won the past two, and many believe that while Tate has been Rousey’s toughest opponent, she will not be able to beat Ronda.

People want to see Cyborg/Rousey, as it is the only fight that actually matters for either competitor. Each woman has cleaned out their division. With only a 10 pound difference between the two, it makes sense to think that Cyborg could lose weight and get the fight.

The contract between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate has not been signed, and until it has, we could very well see Cyborg swoop in and get a fight in place against Rousey. However, if the contract with Tate is signed before Cyborg can reach a deal with UFC, we may not get to see this fight until sometime next year, if at all. We can imagine that fans will put extreme pressure on UFC and Dana White to make this fight happen. UFC would ideally want it to do so, as it could be their highest selling PPV ever.

[IMG Credits: thisis50.com, filmvz.com, wwe.com]