Cris Cyborg: I don’t want to be the sole face of WMMA
Cris Cyborg: “What happened was, they made Ronda Rousey the face of [women’s] MMA and she lost twice and doesn’t want to come back.”
Gina Carano was once the face of women’s MMA. Then it was Ronda Rousey. The greatest fighter in WMMA, Cris Cyborg, will at last fight for a UFC title, vs. Invicta FC women’s bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger at UFC 214. At stake is the UFC featherweight belt vacated when Germaine de Randamie returned to bantamweight, where she had been just outside the top 10, having earned the belt by beating Holly Holm, who had been 0-2 at bantamweight.
Whoever wins on July 29, 2017 in Anaheim, California, the UFC women’s featherweight title will, at last, have legitimacy. And if Cyborg wins, she has the potential to become the face of WMMA. But she doesn’t want it, and her reasoning is honorable.
“I believe women’s MMA can’t have just one face,” said Cyborg during a recent media chat, as transcribed byGuilherme Cruz for MMA Fighting. “There are several athletes in the promotion. What happened was, they made Ronda the face of [women ’s] MMA and she lost twice and doesn’t want to come back. It’s not about one face only. When you make it about one face and she leaves, you miss it.”
“We have several athletes, it can’t be just one person being the face of [women ’s] MMA. I will represent every woman with my belt there, just like every woman in the UFC represent every MMA fighter. It’s bad when you make one person the face of [women ’s] MMA.”