Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino has reacted furiously to the news that she won’t be contending for the featherweight title in the UFC’s newly created woman’s 145lb division.
Instead, two opponents that the UFC claims ‘Cyborg’ turned down, Holly Holm and Germain De Randamie will fight to establish who is crowned the division’s first ever champion at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, New York on February 11th.
“Just 2 months ago there was no girls at 145 to fight,” a fuming Cyborg wrote in the first of a long series of posts on Twitter after the story first broke. “Now they have a girl who’s 0-2 fighting for the belt just to disrespect me.
“When you don’t have legit rankings you get 1-5 vs 10-0 for a belt. And you get people like me waiting for a division now on the outside.
“The worst part is I fought for the division. I didn’t turn down I title fight I asked for a march date. 10 years no division and no respect.
“You know what when you know your boss just doesn’t want to promote you even though you work hard for the company.
“Anyone remember when the @ufc gave @RondaRousey a belt at a press conference? #cmonson I’m world champ 145 10 years the fans know the truth.
“If the UFC is forcing me to 140 and they know they are making 145 why did they want me to kill myself to fight?
“They won’t let me defend my world title at 145 and I can’t fight feb because the cut to 140 was dangerous 4 health.
“The @Ufc gives @RondaRousey 1 year to prepare for he belt, they can’t give me 2 weeks. I am world champ this division was made for who?
“I’m tired of working for a boss who doesn’t like me.
“For my fans, I did not turn down the title fight. I accepted to fight Holly at UFC brasilia then she missed the date and I asked for march.
“I have always done my best when I fight hoping @danawhite would respect that, but it’s not going to change no matter how many fights I win.
“Anyone remember when Dana was on @WhitlockJason saying 145 had no women? It’s personal not sport.
“I was asking for more time to recover from a bad weight cut to 140 after being pressured to fight at that weight.
“I’m world champ no one has beaten me. One of these girls is 0-2 her last fights. The other last fought 145 5 years ago. Not a world title.
“I’m happy there’s a division. That’s not the 145 world title though it’s media manipulation dipped in gold.”
It’s hard to disagree with a lot of what ‘Cyborg’ is saying here, and her mention of the fact that Ronda Rousey was simply handed the bantamweight title when she first entered the UFC is particularly telling when it comes to demonstrating how unfavorably the Brazilian star is being treated.
Make no mistake though, despite today’s title announcement, the only reason that the UFC have created a woman’s 145lb division is for Cris ‘Cyborg’, and their plan will be to have her fight the winner of Holm Vs De Randamie at a later date in 2017.
