Cris Cyborg: Bring on the featherweights!
Cris Cyborg: “Not all of us weigh 115 or 135 pounds. Some of us are bigger and some even smaller…but we all deserve a stage to showcase our talents.”
Cris Cyborg is the greatest fighter in women’s MMA, but she has no division in the UFC. She holds the Invicta FC featherweight title, but her contract is with the UFC. The idea initially was for her to drop in measured steps to 135, for a superfight with the then seemingly unbeatable Ronda Rousey. However, Ronda proved to be beatable, and a drop to 135 does not seem feasible.
The UFC could continue to use Cyborg solely in Invicta, streamed on Fight Pass, but that seems like it is not the most lucrative use of a major talent. They could continue to put her in catchweight fights in the UFC, which seems to be the approach at the moment.
Or they could debut a featherweight division, centered on Cyborg, much as they debuted women in the UFC centered on Rousey. That ended up working out pretty well – it created the most famous figure in the sport.
Cyborg made the case via Instagram.
I am so grateful to my fans and the sport of #WMMA!! I am getting thousands of messages from girls all over the world thanking me for standing up.
I won’t abandon you or my weight division! Not all of us weigh 115 or 135 pounds. Some of us are bigger and some even smaller…but we all deserve a stage to showcase our talents.
We deserve the same opportunities as the men! They have 8 divisions in the UFC while we only have 2 weight classes for the girls to compete in. I will fight for all of us and we will make them give the women the same opportunities the men are being given!
“If you look at the 135lbs division only @sarahkaufmanmma fought her entire career at 135, all of the other women were either forced up from 125 or pushed down from 145 to create this division of 135.
“I will fight at 145lbs so other girls will have the opportunity!!! It’s great seeing promoters realize the potential and support the division by putting @marloescoenen on their broadcast, this is a great step!
“There are women for me to fight IN MY OWN division and with support the talent will continue to develop. If you build it they will come (or return)! It was a dream come true fighting in my hometown of Curitiba and it would be a dream come true to finally call my World Title a UFC championship for the women’s featherweight division.
If it is god’s blessings I will step back into the octagon again after defending my @invictafc title!
Those of you asking if I will return to 140 to face holly, Miesha, or Ronda in the @ufc…I want to make the exciting fights the fans want to see, however I feel I have a bigger responsibility for the history of the sport, but after defending my belt I will sit with my team and see what superfights the @ufc is willing to make and if it is something MY FANS want, I am willing to make the weight again!
Always Glory to God!!!!!
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Cyborg also denied a report on UFC Tonight that another catchweight fight was in the works vs. Germaine de Randamie at UFC 201 on July 30.
“I’m a champion at 145,” she tweeted. “The UFC doesn’t have my division; that’s fine! But they don’t have the right to erase my division. No point in trying to manipulate my fans, I’ll be defending my belt next fight! I’ve proven I can make 140. I did my part. It was very hard to make 140. I had to train 3 times a day, and I’m doing a documentary that will soon be online for you to see. In all the press I had to do for my last fight I couldn’t take my belt to show I’m champion. I was forbidden.”
So whatever happens next is uncertain. Whatever it is, we’ll be watching.