Cris Cyborg seemed destined to never fight in the UFC. When Strikeforce folded in 2013, Cyborg was offered a chance to go up against then-women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. She declined the fight, wanting to fight at her natural weight class of 145 pounds.
The former Strikeforce women's featherweight champion had been insistent she would only fight at her weight class. The UFC didn't budge since they didn't have a featherweight division and weren't going create a new weight class just for her.
Fans wanted to see Cyborg fight Rousey, Miesha Tate and Holly Holm it looked like they were never going to get it.
The two sides finally came to an agreement, but met in the middle as Cyborg made her long awaited UFC debut against Leslie Smith in a catchweight bout of 140 pounds at UFC 198 in May. Cyborg destroyed Smith by TKO in just 81 seconds.
After the fight, many wondered if this be a one-and-done or would Cyborg return for another bout?
She is returning, still at a catchweight bout of 140 pounds, but this time in a headlining position at UFC Fight Night 95 against Muay Thai specialist Lina Lansberg.
While she didn't completely rule out a fight at 135 pounds, Cyborg said she will either be taking big fightsbatb140 pounds or fighting at her weight class.
“No, just my division and superfights,” Justino told MMAJunkie. “I’m not going to say ‘impossible,’ but I’m always going at my limit. For every fight, I go to the doctor, take a test, make sure everything is OK. I take it one step at a time, so let’s take this first step at 140.”
After UFC 198, a video was released of the current Invicta FC featherweight champion looking worn out while she was trying to make weight. She had been eating right for two years to make bantamweight, but settled on 140 pounds as she wanted to fight at UFC 198 in front of her hometown fans in Curitiba, Brazil.
“I’d actually been dieting for two years to make bantamweight,” Cyborg said. “And I said I could do 140, but not bantam. There was the opportunity to fight at UFC 198, in Curitiba. 140 was hard for me. My weight is already hard, I’ll usually walk around at 175 pounds, around 77 kilos, but I thought nothing is impossible and I thought it was so special that it was in Curitiba, in my hometown in Brasil, that I thought I had to try and give it my all.”
UFC Fight Night 95 takes place on Sept. 24 from the Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil.
