UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine De Randamie has made a controversial move by stating that she won’t fight Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino.
De Randamie’s manager Brian Butler has issued a statement in which he explains that the Dutch fighter won’t accept the fight due to the fact that ‘Cyborg’ is “a proven cheater,” due to the steroid suspension she served during her reign as Strikeforce champion back in 2011.
“Germaine and her team have talked, and the position is that she will not fight Cyborg because Cyborg is a known and proven cheater,” Butler wrote. “Even after so much scrutiny has been put on Cyborg, she still managed to pop for something and will always be a person of suspicion who is trying to beat the system rather than just conforming to the rules.
“For that reason, Germaine and her team don’t believe that Cyborg should be allowed to compete in the UFC at all. If that is the only fight the UFC wants, then Germaine is willing to wait and see if the UFC will strip her belt before making her next move.”
With all that being said it is now surely inevitable that GDR will indeed by stripped of the title given her refusal to fight the clear No.1 contender in the division, and indeed pretty much the only other fighter that’s currently competing at 145lbs.
Also, it has to be pointed out that ‘Cyborg’ is far from the only fighter to ever have tested positive for steroids. The lengthy list includes major star like Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir and Josh Barnett, yet they haven’t been ostracized by their fellow fighters in the same way as the Brazilian star.
If De Randamie is forced to vacate the belt then there are still potential fights out there for ‘Cyborg’, with Invicta FC 145lb champion Megan Anderson having actively campaigned to get the fight, while Cat Zingano recently confirmed that she is also willing to face Justino in the Octagon.
However, with ‘Cyborg’s’ contract ending in October and the fighter herself known to be disgruntled by her treatment so far by the company, not to mention the fact that she’s currently facing potential charges and legal issues after punching fellow fighter / cyber-bully Angela Magana last weekend, it remains to be seen whether the UFC will persevere with the weight class or just simply pull the plug on it.
