Dana White: Cyborg Turned Down Two Featherweight Title Fights

Following her second straight knockout win to begin her UFC career, there has been much uncertainty about at what weight class – and whom – Invicta FC  featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino will fight next in the Octagon.

The fearsome Brazilian star infamously puts her body through insane weight cuts to even make a catchweight of 140 pounds, and her last cut before facing Lina Lansberg in October was well documented as being especially taxing, even to the point of threatening her health.

That’s why Cyborg suggested the UFC create a 145-pound division for her, and in a bit of a shocking revelation on the UFC Unfiltered podcast (via MMA Fighting), UFC President Dana White said that’s just what the promotion wanted to do on more than a single occasion. Yet despite issuing the UFC an ultimatum, Justino wouldn’t take the two fights she was offered because she couldn’t make weight:

“What’s crazy about that is this: I offered Cris Cyborg a title fight at 145 pounds a month ago. She had eight weeks to get ready for it, she said she couldn’t make the weight, said she couldn’t make 145 pounds.

“So then I offered her another 145-pound title fight for Brooklyn (UFC 208), 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.’”

Apparently Cyborg was offered former bantamweight champion Holly Holm for the main event of UFC 208, an event that was eventually canceled due to a lack of a suitable headlining fight, and dangerous striking veteran Germaine de Randamie. Both would be explosive stand-up-based fights, but White expressed his frustration at Justino’s continued issues with making weight when she originally signed with the promotion to face former champ Ronda Rousey at 135 pounds:

“First of all, obviously when we did the deal with Cyborg we sat down with her and said, ‘Listen, if you can make it down to 135 pounds, maybe we can hire you a dietitian and help you get there or whatever, and get you in the mix, get you a couple of with these girls and then fight Ronda (Rousey) for the title,’ and she was all in,” White said. “That’s why she signed the deal. Then she was having a hard time doing it, so she cut down to 140, then this whole thing about, ‘I can’t make 140 pounds.’ Finally, we just said, ‘Fuck it, alright then, we’ll make a 145-pound title for you,’ and here we go. She said, ‘I can’t make 145 pounds in eight weeks.’

“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.”

But Cyborg vs. Holm just wasn’t meant to be, because White revealed Holm’s longtime coach Mike Winkeljohn had made her turn it down:

“And just for the record, Holly was so excited, Holly was so excited for that fight,” White said. “Her coach, [Mike] Winkeljohn, said, ‘That’s not the right fight for Holly.’ So Holly had to turn it down, so we went for Germaine, and Germaine wants the fight.”