It was recently revealed that UFC women’s featherweight fighter Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino turned down two title fights the promotion had offered her. UFC President Dana White said that Cyborg declined opportunities to fight for the inaugural UFC featherweight title on two occasions.
It’s no secret that Cyborg has trouble making weight. Her brutal weight cuts are infamous and have all gone viral on social media. It shows the pain and agony the fighter goes through just to make weight.
Cris Cyborg Has Turned Down Two Title Fights According to Reports
After two catchweight bouts in the UFC, Cyborg told White she could make 140-pounds no longer. While this certainly wasn’t a surprise, given her history with weight cut difficulties. It was also recently revealed that Cyborg turned down fights against Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie at 145-pounds.
Cyborg currently campaigns at 145-pounds, so for her to say she can no longer make the weight, has been confusing to White.
“What’s crazy about this, I offered Cris Cyborg a title fight at 145-pounds a month ago,” White told UFC Unfiltered podcast. “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, she turned it down. She turned down two 145-pound title fights.
This has obviously drawn the ire of White, who signed Cyborg on the merit that she would be able to cut enough weight to fight Ronda Rousey. Rousey, the former UFC 135-pound champion, has been called out by Cyborg numerous times.
A Cyborg-Rousey fight is big money and one of the biggest fights to make in MMA.
Dana White Wants to Find the Real Reason for Turning Down the Two Fights
“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 wins with these girls and then fight Ronda 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.”
Cyborg has since then shed some light on her side of the equation.
