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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey has been making a lot of harsh comments towards former Women's Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg as of late. The former featherweight dropped to the bantamweight division to get a title shot earlier this year, and after Cyborg was stripped of her belt for failing a steroid test in December, Rousey has no desire to move back up.
She's called Cyborg out on a couple of occasions now, but has said the fight would only happen at 135 lbs. Her manager upped the stakes this week by saying that Cyborg would also have to agree to random testing up through the bout in order for the fight to happen.
Well, it's not likely to come to fruition on those terms, and Cyborg has now fired back at Rousey for leaving the division to avoid her in the first place.
"I get many questions about Ronda Rousey, and I would like to set the record straight for the last time, as I do not consider her much personally, much less as a fighter," Cyborg said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "She claims she is the champion and openly challenges me to fight at 135 lbs, which I find laughable. She competed in the Beijing Olympics at 154 lbs and fought at 145 lbs in MMA until she learned she would have to fight me and then dropped to 135 lbs.
"I have never fought below 145 pounds, and I am considered the pound-for-pound top woman fighter in the world. I have yet to lose a fight while holding the Strikeforce 145-pound title. My last fight was considered a no contest, but that has not changed the fact that I am the women's 145-pound champion."
Rousey's scathing attacks towards Cyborg in the last week have seen her accuse the former Champion of doping for a long period, not just when she got got in December. She's also gone after her for missing weight on numerous occasions, and said if she "got off the juice" then she should be able to make 135 lbs.
Cyborg responded that it's simply not possible for her to get to that weight safely, and issued her own challenge to Rousey, at 145 lbs. where she began in MMA.
"There really is not a safe way for me to cut to 135 lbs – not without hurting myself physically," Cyborg said. "I am less than eight percent body fat at 145 lbs, and my cardiologist and physician have advised me that to make such a drastic reduction in weight could have permanent effects on my long-term health. I will not endanger my health to satisfy the rantings of a spoiled little girl who has yet to prove that she can truly compete at my level at a weight she has not only fought at before but has been awarded an Olympic medal."
"To put this issue to rest, if Ronda is the future of women's MMA and is the champion that she envisions, you know where I am, and I am more than willing to give you an opportunity to test me," she continued. "I will fight you at 145 lbs – you know, the weight that you started at – and then you can have two belts and prove to everyone that you are indeed a champion. If not, stay at 135 lbs and continue to delude yourself and your fans that you can beat me. You're really not worth my time otherwise.
"I will do all of my talking in the ring. Until then, you're really not worth my breath."
Penick's Analysis: This may simply be a fight that doesn't come to fruition, unless Rousey is willing to take on someone who will have a very significant weight advantage over her. Rousey thinks Cyborg's a roided up freak who shouldn't deserve anything, and Cyborg thinks Rousey's a "spoiled little girl" who fled her division. I'm not sure how those two dynamics reconcile at this point to find middle ground to make the fight happen. It's not like it was imminently heading our way, as Cyborg is still serving a suspension, but both sides are putting up obstacles to it, and are likely hard headed enough to not budge much from the lines they've drawn in the sand.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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