Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino vs. Ronda Rousey is quickly becoming the Pacquiao-Mayweather of the MMA world: the superfight everyone wants, but probably won’t get while the fighters are in their primes.
The problem with setting up a Cyborg-Rousey fight is weight. For years, Rousey dominated the UFC’s 135-pound women’s bantamweight division while Justino destroyed everyone in her path at 145 pounds in Strikeforce then Invicta, two rival promotions. That weight class does not exist in UFC.
In May, a solution for bridging the weight gap seemed to presented itself when Justino made her UFC debut in a catchweight bout against Leslie Smith at 140 pounds. Justino mauled Smith in just 80 seconds, but Justino has revealed the won’t be making the punishing weight cut to 140 pounds for much longer.
“Almost two years I’ve been doing dieting and working with George Lockhart and for me to make 140 [pounds]. It’s a big challenge,” Justino told FightHubTV. “I’m not 18 years old anymore. I’m 30 years old, and it’s really hard. I started this camp now — for 140 again — I started running and I said, ‘Man, after this fight I want a vacation, I want a break,’ because I really need it. To make 140, I have to run six miles every day and train every day. Today I feel really exhausted. … After this fight I want a vacation.
“I’m supposed to defend my belt at 145, and Invicta wanted more time to develop the girls for 145. I would like to defend my belt. … I can make 140, but I think I’m very close [to being done] because it’s too much for my body.”
The strain on the 31-year-old Justino’s body was on full display during her weight cut for her fight with Smith, which was captured in the trailer for a documentary. Justino broke down in tears of agony.
Given how hard it is for Justino to get down to 140, it is hard to imagine she would be willing or able to cut another five pounds to take on the 29-year-old Rousey at 135. The only plausible hope for the superfight is if Rousey decides to move up in weight, but that has its own set of problems.
For starters, there’s a basic logistical problem: the UFC’s top female weight class is the 135-pound bantamweight division.
There’s the issue of Rousey herself. She is at her best when she combines her immense strength with her world-class judo skills to literally throw her opponents around the Octagon. Against a bigger fighter such as Justino, that advantage would disappear, which is why Rousey will try to stay at 135 pounds for as long as she can.
And, in shades of Pacquiao-Mayweather, great fighters such as Rousey tend to move up through the weight divisions as they age, which means she would be well past her prime by the time she’s ready to fight Justino. So the greatest female MMA fight of all time runs the risk of being a disappointment before it even happens, just like the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight borefest.
Despite all of the challenges, Justino is well aware the fight is what everyone wants to see.
“I never choose my opponents, but I think the biggest fight that everybody wants to watch, the fans want to watch, is me and Ronda. Why do I make 140? I make 140 for superfights. Not just to be world champion of my division and sit there and wait. If I can make a superfight so when I finish my career I can say, ‘You remember this fight with Ronda, with Holly Holm,’ something nice that I can talk about with my kids or my friends. I’m open to make superfights,” Justino told FightHubTV.
Until the superfight with Rousey is made, fans will have to be content with watching Justino take on lesser fighters such as Lina Lansberg, whom she’ll fight at 140 pounds at UFC Fight Night 95 on Sept. 24.