Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino News

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Ronda Rousey

Tito Ortiz Says The Fans 'Deserve' The Fight Between Cyborg and Ronda Rousey

Justin Golightly - December 7, 2017

At the end of the month, one of the biggest women’s MMA fights of all-time will go down at UFC 219. Holly Holm will step into the Octagon to challenge Cris Cyborg for her women’s UFC featherweight title. A huge fight like this with such high stakes hearkens back to when Holm fought Ronda Rousey and finished her to become the women’s bantamweight champion in Australia. That feeling can’t help but conjure up images for Tito Ortiz of the fight that never was — Cris Cyborg versus Ronda Rousey —  and he thinks the fans deserve to have that happen. “I think the fans deserve [the fight between Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey]. Cris deserves it, and for sure I think Ronda deserves it after everything she’s said about Cris. If you’re ever gonna’ talk about somebody, at least step in the cage and try to prove yourself. But she’s afraid to do it, I understand. There’s many women who are afraid to fight Cris, and I’d just say the proof is in the pudding of how dangerous Cris truly is. If that fight’s in front of her it shows that UFC are able to once again put a great, huge fight together.”

Holly Holm

Cyborg Reveals Brazilian Friends Brought Back Info From Holly Holm's Camp

Justin Golightly - December 6, 2017

After many, many months of hype, negotiations and a back-and-forth suspense on if the fight would be on UFC 219, Cris Cyborg will finally defend her women’s UFC featherweight title against Holly Holm. When the division was first created for the dominant Brazilian fighter, it’s the match-up we all thought would be for the belt and now it’s happening. Coach Jason Parillo vows a knockout victory for Cyborg, which may be aided by some “help” that the champ has received from some Brazilian fighters in New Mexico. However, Cyborg claims she didn’t need the advice and honorably refused it. “Many Brazilians are excited about this fight. Both times I fought in Brazil at 63.5kg, the fans wanted me to face Holly [Holm], and since this fight was announced I was surprised by the number of Brazilian fighters who offered me support. Believe it or not, I had some Brazilians who trained in New Mexico who came to share things about their training. Although I thanked them for wanting to see me succeed and continue representing Brazil as champion, I did not let what they said influenced my training. In the end, I do not care what kind of training she’s doing for her confidence, wrestling or boxing. My team is preparing me for the best version of Holly Holm.” 

Cris Cyborg, Cynthia Braekhus
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino

VIDEO | Boxer Cecilia Braekhus says Cris Cyborg will surprise Holly Holm in one specific area at UFC 219

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2017

In preparation for her UFC 219 title defense against former UFC bantamweight champ Holly Holm, UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg has been working on her hands with pro boxing legend Cecilia Braekhus.

Cris Cyborg Justino
Holly Holm

Cyborg's Coach: The Holm Who Fought Bethe Correia Will 'Go To Sleep' at UFC 219

Justin Golightly - November 30, 2017

After a long time of negotiations and build-up, we finally have the UFC women’s featherweight title fight that many believed we should have gotten all along. Cris Cyborg will defend her title against Holly Holm in just a month to also contend her status as the best female fighter in the world. Cyborg’s coach thinks Holm’s last fight is telling on how the scrap at UFC 219 will go, but thinks even the best Holly Holm will have no choice but to fall at Cyborg’s hands. “When I watched Holly Holm’s last fight against Bethe Correia or whatever it was, that Bethe girl, Bethe, her level of striking is at the lowest level of the game, the lowest level of the game! And I watched her f-cking batter around for three rounds, Holly trying to get her out of there. Did she finally get her out of there with the head kick? Yes. Should that have happened in the first minute of the first round of the level that both of them are at? Yes. She should have knocked her – look at what Ronda Rousey did to that girl. Ronda Rousey, again, the lowest level of striking in the MMA game, went out and knocked Bethe Correia the f-ck out in the first fucking minute of their god damn fight. And styles make fights, there’s no math on that and I get it, I get it, but Bethe Correia is very ordinary, very ordinary with a low skill-level in striking. Sorry Bethe if you hear this interview, it’s no disrespect to you but it’s just a fact. It is what it is. And I didn’t see the Holly Holm that fought Ronda Rousey out there when she fought Bethe. If there was, she probably would have smoked her a little sooner now wouldn’t she?”

Cris Cyborg Justino
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino

Cris Cyborg opens as significant betting favorite over Holly Holm

Tom Taylor - November 19, 2017

After months of back and forth and discussion, the first title defense of UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg Justino is finally set. The champ will defend her title against former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm at UFC 219 this December 30. While this fight is still some time away, the early betting odds for it have now been released via veteran oddsmaker Joey Odessa. These odds have the champ Cyborg identified as a -400 betting favorite, while Holm has been pegged as a +300 underdog.

Cris Cyborg
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino

Cris 'Cyborg' Justino Signs Contract Extension with the UFC

Adam Conklin - November 17, 2017

Its been a good week for UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino. First, she books the first defense of her title against former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm in what is one of the most sought after matchup in MMA. Next, Cyborg confirms to the media via her website that a new deal has been reached with the UFC that will keep her in the Octagon at least the next year. Cyborg has made the most of her long-awaited UFC career. She stands undefeated in the Octagon with three straight wins, all of which coming by knockout in no later than the third round. Her most recent history came over former Invicta FC bantamweight champ Tonya Evinger who made her UFC debute opposite one of the most feared fighters in MMA.

Cris Cyborg
Holly Holm

VIDEO | Cris Cyborg's Coach Teases a Fight Announcement 'Very Soon'

Justin Golightly - November 15, 2017

Ever since her victory over Tonya Evinger at UFC 214 to become the new UFC featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg has been on a warpath to try and defend her title against Holly Holm. There was a whole social media campaign for a fight that seemed like the only option, at least with Invicta FC featherweight champ Megan Anderson’s UFC status still up in the air. The match-up went from being a no-brainer on UFC 219 to dead in the water. Don’t lose hope yet though, Cyborg’s coach Jason Parillo recently just revealed that she will be fighting soon. “Well, I mean I happen to be sitting here with [Cyborg] right now at lunch and her manager. Something is going to be happening. It’s not my job to open my mouth about it, but there’s definitely something exciting in the works, for sure. Cris Cyborg’s a champion. Gun to my head, we’ll see her fight very soon.” — Jason Parillo speaking to the Extra Rounds Podcast.  

Holly Holm fights at UFC 208
Holly Holm

VIDEO | Holly Holm Claps Back at Cyborg Over USADA Accusations

Justin Golightly - October 17, 2017

This morning, USADA paid a visit to Cris Cyborg today for her third test in a month. There was no problem, except for Cyborg wants the same testing frequency for her potential opponent Holly Holm, or any opponent for that matter. Does this mean they’re still in negotiations? Either way, Cyborg took to Twitter to make her request known and eventually drew out a shade-filled response from Holly Holm herself. I’ve actually just wasted a minute of my life on this video.

Cris Cyborg
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino

Cyborg Cancels Holly Holm Fight Negotiations After Being Insulted By UFC's Offer

Justin Golightly - October 3, 2017

The UFC women’s featherweight champ, and arguably the most dominant female fighter on the planet, still doesn’t have a fight. After a long social media campaign to try and finally get the title defense booked against Holly Holm, Cris Cyborg and their team have called off negotiations and canceled their upcoming meeting to solidify a deal. According to Cyborg, the UFC offered her even less money than her fight against Tonya Evinger when she captured the title. My meeting with the @UFC for next week has been canceled. They want to pay me less to fight @HollyHolm than I made to fight Tonya Evinger

Miesha Tate
Miesha Tate

Miesha Tate Condemns Rousey's Coach for Suggesting a Cyborg Fight

Justin Golightly - September 21, 2017

There was a lot of talk when Ronda Rousey’s coach voiced his opinion that he still wants the long-awaited fight with Cris Cyborg. It’s a fight that Cyborg herself is no longer interested in, and one her coach scolded Edmond Tarverdyan for suggesting. The latest to speak out on this is Rousey’s greatest rival, Miesha Tate. Not only does she think it’s ‘asinine’ for Tarverdyan to put the idea out there, but gives credit to Cyborg for shooting the fight down before the idea even gets legs. “I’m gonna give Cyborg a round of applause, because she wouldn’t look more like a bully than if she took that fight with Ronda. That would be ridiculous. It’s just nonsense to even think about that. I cannot believe that Edmond [Tarverdyan] would suggest something so asinine. I think Edmond just wants another payday so he can try to pay off his bankruptcy issues, because Jiminy Christmas. Poor Ronda. I’m not her biggest fan, but I wouldn’t even want to see that fight. I’m not her biggest fan, but I wouldn’t want to see her get slaughtered by Cyborg at this point in her career, either. It’s not appealing.”

Cris Cyborg
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino

Cyborg's Coach Thinks She Could Beat Ronda Rousey, Nunes and Holm in One Night

Justin Golightly - September 21, 2017

After the last two fights, it seemed like Ronda Rousey was done with the sport of MMA, at least for the time being. If anything, it seemed like she was inching closer to a wrestling in the WWE. However, her longtime coach Edmond Tarverdyan, recently just put it out in the news that he would still like for her to finally have the fight with Cris Cyborg. Jason Parillo, Cyborg’s coach, doesn’t think that’s a good idea at all. “As far as putting Cris Cyborg’s name in [Edmond Tarverdyan’s] mouth, that’s not a good idea. And god bless him, who else are you gonna call out? You should call out probably the girl, one of the last two girls [Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes] that he fought. That would probably be a better call-out. It would be more of an even match-up because the girl that he keeps calling out in Cris Cyborg, I believe would be – in an old school, back when Mark Coleman was doing it back in the day, I see Cris Cybrog beating all three of those girls in the same night, and I’m being serious when I say that. I believe that, and it’s the type of heart that Cris Cyborg has.”

Cris Cyborg
Videos

VIDEO | Watch Cris Cyborg's insane Muay Thai workout in Thailand

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2017

UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino is currently training at Phuket Top Team in beautiful Phuket, Thailand. If the video she uploaded to YouTube earlier today is any indication, she is absolutely killing it in the gym – and all of her prospective opponents should be worried. In this video, fans can watch Cyborg literally chase her pad-holder around the facility, smashing him with punches, knees, kicks and elbows as she does. Watch it above! Though nothing is official just yet, Cyborg has been angling hard for a fight with former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm – ideally at UFC 219 this December.

Cris Cyborg
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino

With UFC contract nearing completion, Cris Cyborg has secured a boxing license

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg is now a licensed boxer in the state of California. The Brazilian juggernaut received her license on Wednesday, per a report from Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com. The timing of Cyborg’s being granted a boxing license is quite convenient, as her current UFC contract will wrap up in October. Because she’s a UFC champion, however, the UFC will have an exclusive one-year window to negotiate a new contract with her. If the two parties don’t agree to a new deal Cyborg should, in theory, be allowed to go full-steam ahead on her long-discussed boxing career.

Holly Holm
Holly Holm

Holly Holm is Up For Fighting Cris Cyborg at UFC 219

Justin Golightly - August 23, 2017

One thing has been on Cris Cyborg’s mind since finally winning the UFC women’s featherweight title: Holly Holm. Although, she doesn’t have too much choice. There aren’t any other girls in the division now that Germaine de Randamie has been stripped and left back to bantamweight. She’s done everything short of directly demanding a fight with Holm at the end of this year, even promising she will ‘find her’ no matter what. Finally, Holm has gone on record that she is willing to fight Cyborg. …Sort of. “This is me publicly saying, ‘Yes, I am open to the fight at 145 [pounds],'” Holm said. “[But] I’m not going to take a fight at 135 pounds one month, and then the next month it’s, ‘Oh hey, do you want to fight Cyborg at 145?’ This is me going outside of my weight class and that’s OK. I’m willing to take the fight. I just want to have a full training camp. My contract is at 135 pounds. So, if they came with a fight like that [at 145lbs], I would say, ‘Let’s negotiate.’ I truly feel that is one of, if not the biggest, female fights they can promote. I’m not in it for the priority of money, but I value myself. […] This is a huge fight and I’m sure everybody around it, the promotion, is going to make money. So, I would expect more money.”

ufc fight night brasilia
Holly Holm

Cris Cyborg Vows to Find Holly Holm No Matter How Much She 'Runs'

Justin Golightly - August 15, 2017

After the hard reset of the UFC’s women’s featherweight division, things still don’t seem like there will be smooth sailing moving forward. Technically, there is only one fighter even in the division, that women being the champion Cris Cyborg. Germaine de Randamie gave up her title and ran all the way back to bantamweight, and it seems like Holly Holm did the same. That won’t stop Cyborg from going after Holm to pursue a real, 145lb contender to fight her in a title defense. Cyborg makes a point to MMA Fighting that no matter how much Holm runs, she will find her. “She’s never KOed one girl. Her last punch with Bethe Correia. Three rounds, maybe six punches. They had to stop the fight and say, ‘Hey girls, I don’t know what the plan is but let’s start fighting.’ I don’t think she’s very aggressive. I don’t think she’s going to be really dangerous. I think it would be an exciting fight because I like to fight and I’m going to find her. She’s going to run in the ring, but I’ll find her. She’s already run three times. I was supposed to fight her in Curitiba, I agreed to fight her 140 and she did not want to fight. Then, I said fight in Brazil, and she said she’d fight me at 138, not 140. And after this fight, when Megan Anderson pulled out of the fight, I said I’d like to fight Holly, she said no. […] Three time she run from this fight.”

Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino

Cyborg Wants Holly Holm to Prove Her Coach's Claims at UFC 219

Justin Golightly - August 10, 2017

From February to July, the UFC women’s featherweight division was an absolute mess, even for standard MMA messes. Luckily, like a savior from Brazil, Cris Cyborg finally set things right after winning Germaine de Randamie’s stripped title. De Randamie outright avoided a fight with Cyborg to defend her title, which resulted in getting buried constantly during the UFC 214 broadcast. If it wasn’t for Invicta’s Tonya Evinger, who knows how long it would have taken to get an opponent for the most devastating and dominant women’s fighter on the planet. However, Mike Winkeljohn thinks that Cyborg’s last fight exposed some holes in her game that Holm can exploit and earn some title fight vindication.

Rock Jon Jones
Daniel Cormier

VIDEO | UFC 214: The Thrill and the Agony - Preview - 'You are the best'

Russell Ess - August 3, 2017

It has been said time and time again that in the sport of mixed martial arts, you experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. UFC 214 displayed just that, especially in the main event light heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones. Cormier went into the title fight rematch as the champion while Jones came in the challenger after coming off a year suspension after testing positive for banned substances.

Cris Cyborg
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino

Cris Cyborg sets her sights on Holly Holm, Dana White comments on possible fight

Tom Taylor - July 30, 2017

Cris Cyborg is finally a UFC champion. After years of waiting, the Brazilian bomber got her chance to fight for the vacant UFC women’s featherweight title opposite Tonya Evinger in one of three title fights on Saturday’s UFC 214 bill. Cyborg won her title with a third-round TKO. From here, it’s difficult to say what might be next for Cyborg, as the UFC women’s featherweight division is notoriously short on talent. While Megan Anderson – Cyborg’s originally planned UFC 214 opponent – seems like an option, however, Cyborg herself is interested in a scrap with former women’s bantamweight champ Holly Holm.