Cris Cyborg is the most lethal striker in Women’s MMA and she is about to make a move to challenge the World’s #1 ranked fighter, Ronda Rousey.
Here is Cris’ manager George Prajin in an interview with MMAJunkie.com.
“I think she could make 135 for a few fights; I just don’t see her doing it for her career,” Prajin said. “[The UFC] just didn’t make it easy. They wanted six fights, and they also didn’t want to share the pay-per-view revenue with Cris, and those are just a few things that we felt weren’t fair.”
“If the UFC really wanted this fight to happen – if Ronda really wanted to show the world … that she’s the best in the world – then step up. Say, ‘Hey, I’ll gain that extra five pounds.’”
“She’s fought at 154 in the Olympics and 145 in Strikeforce. But obviously, she’s hiding behind the fact that she’s the 135-pound champ and she doesn’t have to do anything. Well, Cris is the 145-pound champ. If Invicta had a 155-pound title, she’d go up and win the belt, and also go down to 135, because I don’t think anyone has a chance with Cris.”
Those are bold words, but true in a sense. Rousey has fought the majority of her career at 145 lbs and up until her UFC debut that was her championship weight. A catch weight with no title implications at 140 lbs wouldn’t be foreign at all to Rousey and would allow her to remain the face of the promotion.
For now Cris is comfortable fighting at 145 and with the Invicta FC promotion for which she currently reigns as women’s champ.
“[Invicta] is a relationship we want to continue for a long time, and Shannon’s been so great to us,” he said. “But contractually, [Justino vs. Rousey] could happen in the fall. And to be honest, I think if the UFC offered the fight, I don’t think Shannon would stand in the way. I think she’d be very supportive, and even if she were contractually bound, I think she would allow Cris to fight Ronda in the UFC. I know that for a fact.” – Prajin
This is the fight everyone wants to see and if Dana White claims to care about the competition aspect of MMA as much as he says he’ll get this done in 2014.