UFC 190 was a major event that should be considered a success for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Ronda Rousey further cemented her position as a great star for the sport and demolished another challenger to her throne.
However, the organization missed the boat in one key area. Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino was in the crowd, but she was not brought in to stake her claim as the top contender to Rousey’s title. Setting up that moment would have created a huge opportunity in the future for both fighters and the UFC as a whole.
Justino is perhaps the last hurdle Rousey must leap in order to call her mixed martial arts career “complete.” The former Strikeforce and current Invicta champion has dominated all the competition that has been put in her way, much in the same way Rousey has done during her climb to fame.
During said climb, Rousey and Justino have been in each other’s crosshairs for years. She was immediately brought up during the post-fight press conference, and both Rousey and UFC President Dana White had to comment on the situation.
“I prefer [to fight] who makes weight and doesn’t do drugs. The fight’s there for Cyborg. She can make 145 pumped full of steroids; she can move down without them,” Rousey said. “I’m not going anywhere. I don’t see why everyone acts like I have so much to prove when she has to prove she can actually fight legitimately.”
White immediately followed up Rousey with his own comments on the action.
“She didn’t make the weight yet. The day she makes the weight and does what she’s supposed to do, that fight is on,” White said. “You think I don’t want that fight? Now I’m changing my mind on that fight. I think that fight does 2.5 million [pay-per-view] buys. That fight is massive.”
“Massive” is the right word to use. On an edition of the Jim Rome Show, White mentioned he believed the fight would do a very large pay-per-view buy rate.
“It’s one of those fights that’s very intriguing. When that fight happens, I guarantee that thing does over 2 million pay-per-view buys.”
UFC 190 was a moment in which the organization should have brought Justino into the cage to have her face off against Rousey. Conor McGregor took the moment into his own hands when he jumped over the cage after defeating Dennis Siver to face off against featherweight champion, Jose Aldo.
That set the stage for the successful UFC 189 event, even though Aldo was not present on the card. Using a similar approach between these two women would have created an immediate hype around the event well beyond what is currently going on in the mixed martial arts world.
Damon Martin of Fox Sports is reporting that the UFC is interested in putting the third fight between Rousey and Miesha Tate on the card that features the McGregor-Aldo matchup. While that would be a strong event if pulled off, the UFC should look at having Justino on that card instead of Tate. The groundwork for such a major fight should have kicked off at UFC 190. Mainstream and hardcore fans can only hope this bout happens while interest is still high.
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