Cris Cyborg explains why she turned down two UFC featherweight title fights

[Kwic]

First, this is what Dana said :

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.

There is no excuse, she just turned the fight down.

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,” “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.

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."

Cyborg's response :

In my last weight cut I almost died. I was in the bathtub cutting weight, and I thought, ‘I will die in this bathtub.’ It was the worst weight cut in my life. My nutritionist George Lockhart, who, by the way, is a UFC employee, didn’t do an effective job with this birth control pill he indicated saying that would help me. But thank God, in a war, I made weight, cutting 24 pounds in a week. My body was retaining a lot of water. The last time I spoke with George Lockhart was in the locker room before my fight. He disappeared after the fight. I’m not working with him anymore.

For the first time I didn’t warm up in the locker room like I do for every fight because I was too weak. I was just praying for God and went for the fight, and, once again, God gave me the victory. After all this, I went back to my hometown on Sunday and I felt sick on Sunday. My mother gave me tea and I fell asleep. The next day, like I always do after my fights, I did blood tests to see if everything was okay after a terrible weight cut. And for the first time, the nurses couldn’t take my blood, it was so thick it wouldn’t come out, so we couldn’t do tests. I was in treatment for 10 days with Dr. Ulisseia. I was in observation because I was feeling sick all the time.

You can see that I give no interviews after the fight. I told UFC Brazil PR Lilian (Caparroz) that I wanted to cancel all my interviews and couldn’t travel. After all that, at home, I decided I would not fight at this weight anymore, that I would only fight at my division. And only with 12 weeks’ notice. For my last fight, they told me eight weeks before.

I got a call from the UFC offering me another catchweight fight, and I said I would not fight at this weight anymore. I needed a break to get my health back to normal because my body was weak, I was anemic.

After that, they invited me to fight again, but this time at my weight and for the belt, but with 10 weeks’ notice. Knowing that I was recovering, like I said, I told them I can fight anyone in March, but I need to take care of my body, and no mention of the fact that I’m dealing with severe depression and can’t have another brutal weight cut like before. This decision is more important than the belt or the division, I’m thinking about my health.

I thank my fans. We did it! I’ll soon be fighting in my division, where I’m the world champion. You and God are loyal. I’ll be ready to fight in March."

Source : http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/12/6/13854316/dana-white-cris-cyborg-ufc-featherweight-title-fights

I don't know about you guys, but she killed me with the first line And I like Cyborg.

 

[Apollo33]

If you need that long to recover to cut down to 145, you need to lose some mass honestly

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

 

[Ashenthorn]

Why didn't Dana just skip right to it and offer her a fight for the inaugural UFC women's lightweight title?

 

[LOLAinsleyHarriott]

God gave me the victory.

By this logic he's also trying to kill you in the fucking bath tub.

 

[chubbman]

so Cyborg is too big for 145 now, and Hollys' coach doesn't believe in her

 

[TTech]

the one time Im actually on Danas side. Her having to lose 24lbs in a week (which is just plain stupid) is not the same as UFC offering her a 145lbs title fight, no, two fights, in a resonable time at her usual fighting weight. Her reasoning is thin.

 

[FeloniousMonk]

She's admitting to taking drugs
to aid in a weight cut. She didn't
even make the weight. She never
hit the 141 weight limit in her fight
with Lansberg.

She's a proven cheater and liar.
The UFC granted her main events.
Brought in no names, with no UFC
fights to their record, to main event
Cyroid in her home country.

Yet they can't even incentivize guys
like Monsoon Larkin, who has never
failed a test, missed weight & can
very well be champion in his
respective bracket.

I hope some serious change comes
in 2017.

 

[Anomonis]

This shit is getting real, real old. I used to be a fan but I can't support this. The vast majority of fighters make their weight cuts. Just fucking do it and stop writing essays about why you can't do it or it's so impossibly hard. Either that or find a different job.

 

[johny ringo]

Does anyone really believe the shit that spews out everytime she opens her mouth?

 

[haplo]

V-V I'm literally crying after reading Cyborg's response. For fuck's sake DANA, just make the damn 170 women division already! Cyborg is ready.

 

[Gabe]

Don't care. Haven't cared about Cyborg ever actually.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Give an inch, take a mile. If they offer her a division at 155, she'll gain enough mass that she can't make that cut either.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Don't care. Haven't cared about Cyborg ever actually.

THIS.

 

[LiLoMMA]

I wonder if it was the timing or is the UFC really all set to add a WFW division.
I just don't see it being viable. The only way I can see it work is having Holly vs Cyborg for the belt, praying that Ronda beats Nunes and then do a superfight. Either Holly or Cyborg would make for a fantastic superfight with Ronda. Then hopefully Ronda could win, vacate the WFW title and you can scrap that stupid division which doesn't have enough girls for a proper top 15 even

 

[K4BOSH]

Maybe Invicta is the best place for her to fight at.

 

[The1Englishman]

Does anyone give two shits ?
She wants to keep her main advantage, weight and height so she can push the little girlys round the cage.
There is not one fighter that does not make weight cut sacrifices.

Maybe she should fight in the mens divisions.
Would be more fair anyway.

 

[CasterMard]

She could easily lose muscle and make weight with ease if she really wanted to. Nobody is forcing her to carry additional muscle, unless she's not confident in her ability and believes she'd lose an edge over other fighters.

 

[EffinCraig]

I guess they'll need to find some porkers for her to beat up at WW.

 

[The Schmoop]

Borg needs to get her shit together and decide where she wants her career to take her. She's being handed EVERYTHING she has claimed to want and declined for various reasons. I won't call her a liar on health issues because she looked like shit so I'll take her word for it. she needs to change her diet or training. 145 should not be an issue.


sidenote: fuck Winklejohn.