CYRBORG SAYS SHE CAN’T MAKE 145 WITH EIGHT WEEKS NOTICE
After refusing to cut weight to fight Ronda Rousey or anyone else at 145 and after a difficult weight cut to 140 pounds earlier this year, Cris Cyborg has now found a new way to frustrate UFC.
In speaking to the UFC Unfiltered podcast recently, Dana White shared that he has twice offered 145 pound championship fights to Cris Cyborg, and she turned both down. White told the podcast that he first offered Cyborg a fight at 145 pounds against former bantamweight champion Holly Holm to crown a UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion, only Cyborg declined the fight citing her inability to make the weight limit. White said he gave her eight weeks notice for the fight. “She had eight weeks to get ready for it, she said she couldn’t make the weight, said she couldn’t make 145 pounds,” he said.
White then proceeded to offer Cyborg a fight at the upcoming UFC 208 show this February from Brooklyn, again with fair notice to prepare and this time against Germaine de Randamie. “So then I offered her another 145-pound title fight for Brooklyn (UFC 208),” he said. “She turned it down. She turned down two 145-pound title fights. One because she said she couldn’t make 145 pounds in eight weeks, and Joe Silva’s like, ‘If she can’t make 145 pounds in eight weeks, 145 isn’t the right weight class for her either.’”
White who must be frustrated he can’t find a fight, or a weight class, for one of his top female draws, is lost for answers as to what the problem is. “This doesn’t have to do with weight. Obviously it has nothing to do with weight cutting. I don’t know what it has to do with, so we’re gonna figure it out.”
Cyborg, in a statement provided to MMAFighting.com, confirmed that she had been offered fights but that she needed time to recover after her difficult weight cut in September. She closed the statement saying that “I’ll be ready to fight in February.”
Hiscoe’s Analysis: What’s not making sense here is that Dana White said he offered Cyborg a fight in February but she turned it down, and now she’s saying she will be ready in February. Cyborg has been very difficult for UFC to work with, and even though she’s shown she can move TV numbers, I’m not sure she’s worth the headache at this point. She’s most definitely not worth building an entire division around if she’s not willing to make the weight in eight weeks. It may be best to cut and run or just leave her on the shelf until she’s willing to fight, but don’t create an entirely new division around someone this unreliable.
TUESDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS
–Bloody Elbow reports that UFC had attempted to have Randy Couture blackballed from a congressional hearing scheduled for Thursday where he was to sit on a panel to speak regarding expanding the Ali Act to encompass MMA. UFC officials have lobbied heavily against the act and have not been on good terms with Couture for much of the last eight years or so.
-Conor McGregor posted a video to his Instagram showing him walking around with two UFC belts less than two weeks after he was forced by UFC to relinquish his Featherweight Championship.
-Tony Ferguson told Fox Sports that he’s willing to drop down to 145 for a fight with Jose Aldo.
-Demetrious Johnson told “The MMA Hour” that he may have torn his LCL in the first round of his fight with Tim Elliott on Saturday and will soon be undergoing an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
-Jessica Andrade vs. Maryna Moroz has been booked for UFC 207 on Dec. 30 from Las Vegas.
NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: MONDAY NEWS DIGEST 12/5: Tim Elliot came close to becoming Flyweight Champion, but is not likely to stay in the division + Notebook (w/Hiscoe’s Analysis)
(MMATorch’s Daily News Digest features the top story of the day with added analysis, plus smaller tidbits in the News Notes section. Mike Hiscoe, who writes the News Digest Sundays through Thursdays, has a background in film criticism and previously wrote for the DVD Town and Movie Metropolis websites. His passion for Mixed Martial Arts goes back to 2005, but it was in the promotion for UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie that he really got hooked.”This is my house, I build it,” is still among the all-time great UFC promos. You can follow Mike on social media under the tag @mikehiscoe. He now provides his experienced writing and perspective on live MMA events for MMATorch.)
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