UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta has revealed in an interview with ESPN that he is currently in negotiations with Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino as they look to keep open the potential for a ‘superfight’ between her and current champion Ronda Rousey at some stage in the future.
“We certainly have an interest in Cyborg fighting for us,” said Fertitta who’s believed to have been in negotiations with the Brazilian fighter for a couple of weeks. “We feel that down the road, there is a possibility of a big fight between her and Ronda, but there are still a lot of things that need to happen.”
However, it seems that they are not looking to welcome her into the Octagon just yet, preferring instead for her to prove herself in the Invicta FC promotion first before making her way to the big stage.
“She needs to prove she can get down to 135 pounds before we would take the risk of making that fight happen. Obviously, if she came over and didn’t make the weight, it would be a disaster.”
‘Cyborg’ showed up at a UFC event recently, fueling speculation that she was set to sign with the promotion, but just days later she claimed that she was now abandoning plans to cut weight down to 135lbs altogether.
Her manager George Prajin has confirmed that they are in negotiations with the promotion, though it doesn’t sound as if a deal is on the verge of being signed just yet.
“One thing I can say is that Lorenzo and Zuffa have been very professional during these negotiations,” Prajin said. “And they have been respectful to Chris, which is probably what’s actually keeping us at the table.”
