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Cris Cyborg Gives Up Bantamweight Bout, Intends to Defend Featherweight Belt
Coming off of an injury and expecting to be back in the cage early next year, Cris “Cyborg” Justino has scrapped plans to drop to bantamweight for her next fight.
Cyborg is the current Invicta FC featherweight champion, weighing in for fights at 145 pounds. She has long wanted a fight with UFC 135-pound champ Ronda Rousey, but it has been made all too clear that she would have to be the one relenting on the issue of what weight to fight at.
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She was working towards making a drop to 135 pounds for her next fight, which had been scheduled for this weekend’s Invicta FC 10 in Houston. If successful, she would then try to build towards challenging Rousey. An injury forced her out of Saturday’s fight, and with that setback, Cyborg’s planned move to bantamweight has been put on hold.
“I haven’t fought in a long time. With this injury, I believe the best option now will be fight in my division,” Cyborg told MMAFighting.com. “I can’t wait anymore, I need to fight. I’m the featherweight champion and Invicta FC needs me to defend my belt.”
The current plan, as she sees it, is to put her featherweight championship on the line in February, and then reassess a drop to bantamweight. The cut to 145 pounds is already a difficult one for Cyborg, who hasn’t lost a fight since the first bout of her career in 2005, so whether or not she ever sees 135 pounds is still a looming question. But her desire to fight is never up for debate.
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“Before I got injured, I was around 162 pounds with 12 percent body fat,” she said. “The weight cut is already tough for my division (at 145). I need to do a long work, and that’s why I prefer not to wait much longer and fight in my division.
“I need this motivation. I love to fight. Keeping me at home without a fight is the same to offer candy to a kid and then take it away.”
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