Cris “Cyborg” Justino officially made weight on Wednesday evening for her title defense against Faith van Duin.
Cyborg is the Invicta FC featherweight champion, but that is not what people are interested in. They are also not interested in this fight against the overmatched Van Duin. The MMA fanbase is only concerned with if Cyborg can make 135 pounds so they can get the fight with Ronda Rousey.
At Invicta FC 11, Cyborg looked massive. The thought of her dropping to 135 pounds seemed impossible. However, Cyborg is confident she can do just that.
In an appearance on UFC Tonight (h/t MMA Mania) earlier this year, Cyborg stated that making 135 pounds would be no problem. Still, the Invicta FC champion would prefer a catchweight of 140 pounds. That will not happen, as both UFC President Dana White and Rousey have gone on record saying that Justino has to make the bantamweight limit.
On Wednesday evening, she was full of energy, weighing in at 144.6 pounds for her title defense. She looked lean but not drawn out. From appearances only, she still has a lot of work to do before having a realistic shot at 135 pounds.
Cyborg is a physical specimen. It is one of the draws to her fights. She looks the part of the ultimate fighting machine and backs it up in her fights with all-out aggression. She overwhelms her opponents with a ferocity that is not often seen in all of MMA.
She is so physically superior to her opposition that it leaves people wanting only one fight. There is no one for her at 145 pounds.
Rousey's dominance at 135 makes her the logical choice. They are the only two fighters seen as being able to beat each other in the public eye. They have destroyed their competition.
Until Cyborg officially signs on for a fight at bantamweight, it is all a guessing game. We can only speculate on how hard the cut will be and how much it would diminish her abilities in the cage. We have no idea if she can realistically make the weight in a safe manner.
There is no question Cyborg-Rousey is a marketable fight, but no one knows exactly how big it can be. Cyborg has no history of drawing viewers to watch her performances. She has been fighting exclusively on web streams since 2013, and it has not turned those shows into meteoric successes. She is not a superstar.
Nevertheless, Cyborg says she can make the weight. That should be good enough for the UFC to officially call her up for a tune-up fight that will introduce her to the UFC's wider audience.
If she makes the weight, it will set the stage for a huge bantamweight title showdown with Rousey.
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