Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino is preparing to battle Megan Anderson for the vacant UFC Women’s Featherweight Title at UFC 214.
Cyborg had been campaigning for a fight with then champion Germaine De Randamie, even though she always knew that the former champion would never fight her.
"We knew she never wanted to fight me. There was some people in her camp that warned me about it, they said she wasn't going to fight me. I wanted to close the fight as soon as possible. I believe she knew they would do that. I don't think it came as a surprise, or that she learned about it on the internet. The UFC was in touch with her manager, they wanted to put me against her, but I knew it wouldn't be that quick. Maybe she was dropping to bantamweight to become a two-division champion. I guess that was her excuse, but she thought she couldn't defend and keep her belt. She didn't want the fight. Her first excuse was saying her hand was hurt, then she said she had family problems, then she called me a cheater. It was a new excuse everyday,” Cyborg said to Combate.
De Randamie won the belt at UFC 208, but refused to fight Cyborg due to the Brazilian’s past history with steroids and PED’s.
The Brazilian is now focused on Anderson, which is a fight she considers to be a huge opportunity.
“This fight against Megan is a big opportunity. She has the Invicta belt, which I vacated, so it's a perfect match. It's a real featherweight fight,” says Cyborg.
UFC 214 takes place on Saturday, July 29 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California with Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
