
Invicta FC featherweight champion and UFC fighter Cris Cyborg received great news last week, as USADA granted her a retroactive TUE for Spironolactone, a banned substance she tested positive for in a December out-of-competition drug test. Cyborg received no suspension, which paves the way for her to resume competition and capture the UFC women’s featherweight belt, currently possessed by Germaine de Randamie.
A few days prior to the USADA announcement, Cyborg was on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, and she had plenty to say about Ronda Rousey. The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion returned to the Octagon at UFC 207, and was resoundingly beaten in just 47 seconds by Amanda Nunes. Cyborg questioned Rousey going for the title straightaway, as opposed to taking a non-title bout following her KO defeat vs. Holly Holm. (Transcription via MMA Fighting)
“I think she needed one fight, get a win and be confident again, and go for the belt,” Cyborg said. “I think it’s hard to fight straight for the belt, somebody fights all year and she’s one year off. I really think if I’m managing someone, I don’t do like this. I’d give more fights for her, and she get confident again. Because after the Holly Holm fight, it broke her mind.”
While Rousey’s future is uncertain, Cyborg is certain that chances of a superfight between the two — this was one of the top MMA fantasy fights at the height of Rousey’s reign of dominance — are now completely dashed.
“I think me and her fight is the biggest fight ever, but after she lost two fights… I really knew she cannot take a punch. I knew this, you know? And the fight is never gonna happen and never happened before because she knows what’s gonna happen. And a lot of people know what’s gonna happen. Same thing Amanda did, I’m gonna do worse. And everybody knows this, and this fight never happened.”
You can be rest assured that Cyborg actually had complimentary things to say about Rousey and her importance to women’s MMA, and also remarked that she doesn’t really needed to continue her fighting career.
“She did a lot of good things, she opened the door for the division for the girls,” Cyborg said. “My coach said he could help train because, you know, it’s never gonna happen this fight. It doesn’t make me sad, you know? I think when you lose the fight it’s not the end of the world, you can keep training and catch up and try again better, you know? But she really don’t need this. Make a lot of money, she can do other things for the sport too, just (outside) the cage.”
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