It looks like the “superfight” between Ronda Rousey and Cristiane Santos is even less likely now with Tito Ortiz — Cyborg’s manager — appearing on Inside MMA last night and announcing that they have asked for her release from the UFC. The bout being extremely unlikely was something that I talked about previously when I said that cross divisional superfights are unlikely in many cases for a variety of completely legitimate reasons.
For Tito and Cyborg it appears that the refusal by the UFC to do the fight anywhere other than 135 pounds is what brought the fight down.
Here’s what Tito had to say on Inside MMA:
She says I would love to do a three fight deal, fourth fight would be against Ronda. Let’s get it done at 140. Not be a fight for 135 pound championship. Do it at 140.
For her to get down to 135 pounds is physically impossible…for a woman. For a man it’s a lot more possible because we have a lot more water weight to take off. For Cris Cyborg to get down to that weight she’s gotta be three to four percent body fat and I’ve talked to her. She says she wants to start a family later on, she wants to have kids, and that’s what…family is what it’s truly about.
…
Right now we’re waiting for the UFC to release her. We’ve asked for the UFC to release her. I talked to Dana [White] yesterday. They gave an offer, I went to Cyborg, she said she didn’t want to do it. So we just asked for her release. If they’re not having a 145 pound weight class, what else can she do? So as of now she’s going to be released and maybe we’ll go look somewhere else.