MMA: Cyborg Changes Tune on Rousey
 

Cris Cyborg now says she's willing to try to hit 135 pounds for title fight with Ronda Rousey

By MMA Fighting, 6 Dec 2012


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Less than one month after saying her doctors have warned her that it is impossible to cut an extra 10 pounds to make the bantamweight limit, Cris Cyborg is apparently willing to buck their advice, saying she would attempt to make it down to 135 pounds to set up a title fight with champion Ronda Rousey.

In an interview with the Brazilian-based site Tatame, Cyborg said she was willing to give it a go, but would simply need time after rumors of a potential UFC 157 date in Feb. 2013 surfaced.

"I'm organizing, but is a lengthy process, and much weight," she said. "I am willing to do that to fight with [Rousey], but not in two months. If it's at my weight, I [fight] in February. At 61 kilograms (135 pounds), I need more time."

It marks the first time Cyborg has publicly stated a readiness to attempt to reach the lowest weight of her career.

The fight has been rumored since shortly after Rousey won the championship in August by defeating Miesha Tate. Afterward, both she and her management have been consistent in saying that while she was open to fighting Cyborg, she would only do it at her weight class.

In the middle of November, Rousey seemed to get the backing of Dana White in the fray, after the UFC president publicly stated that there would be no place for Cyborg in the UFC if she couldn't make the bantamweight cut-off.

"I'm bringing in the 135-pound division," he said. "That's what I'm doing."

He later sweetened the pot by confirming that Rousey's next match would likely hold main-event, pay-per-view status.

Cyborg said that her representatives were still negotiating to make the deal, and expected to have an answer by the end of December. The former Strikeforce featherweight champion is currently still under suspension after testing positive for stanozolol in her last fight last December. Her suspension is set to expire on Dec. 17.