MANILA, Philippines – Many were left disappointed when Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino didn't call out Ronda Rousey after annihilating American fighter Leslie Smith in the first round at UFC 198 over the weekend.
In her post-fight interview, Justino instead said that she is open to fighting under the UFC umbrella again in a catchweight contest and looks to defend her Invicta FC featherweight belt in the future.
However, Justino is naming names again after issuing a challenge to the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion in a Facebook post.
{source}<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcriscyborgmma%2Fposts%2F10153519672356892%3A0&width=500" width="500" height="530" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true"></iframe>{/source}
“Hey Ronda Rousey, you running all the way to New York? Don’t be scared, homie,” the 30-year-old Brazilian Justino wrote on his Facebook page, which was accompanied by a photoshopped image of Rousey running away from her.
There is a fervent speculation that Rousey might be booked for UFC’s planned fight card on November 12 at Madison Square Garden, which marks the promotion's first live event in the state of New York since 1995.
Justino rekindled the MMA world’s clamor for a super-fight between two highly-decorated female combatants.
Rousey has not responded to Justino's challenge yet, but Miesha Tate stressed her willingness to face the Brazilian knockout artist.
{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Impressive performance by <a href="https://twitter.com/criscyborg">@criscyborg</a> tonight!! What a powerful woman! Congrats on making 139lbs! 4 more and we can have a title fight!</p>— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) <a href="https://twitter.com/MieshaTate/status/731699000227700736">May 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}
“Impressive performance by Cris Cyborg tonight. What a powerful woman! Congrats on making 139 pounds! Four more and we can have a title fight,” Tate said on Twitter.
Tate, who is set to defend her UFC women’s bantamweight title for the first time against Amanda Nunes at UFC 200 on July 9, had previously conveyed her eagerness to lock horns with Justino at a catchweight of 140 pounds.
But it appears that the 29-year-old native of Tacoma, Washington is more interested in having Justino to drop down to 135 than before.
“We can [fight at 140 pounds,] but it won't be for a title,” Tate stated. – Rappler.com