‘Cyborg’ Out Of Invicta FC 10 Bantamweight Debut With Ankle Injury
Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino was set to make her long-awaited bantamweight debut at Invicta FC 10 on December 5.
The bout was supposed to propel her on a proposed path to a bout with dominant UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, but tonight (Sat., November 1, 2014), news broke that it will unfortunately have to wait as “Cyborg” has been forced off the card due to injury.
Apparently Justino tore the anterior talofibular ligament in her left ankle. Invicta President Shannon Knapp confirmed that the injury took place about three weeks ago, but the promotion wanted to wait and see if it would heal before declaring their biggest name out.
In place of Justino’s bantamweight debut will be an atomweight championship fight between champion Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson and Herica Tiburcio. Waterson was last seen defeating Yasuko Tamada with an impressive TKO at September’s Invicta FC 8 and will make a relatively quick turnaround to defend her belt.
As for “Cyborg,” she hasn’t fought since winning the Invicta 145-pound strap from Marloes Coenen with a third round TKO back at Invicta FC 6 in July 2013. She’s talked a ton of trash to keep her so-called “feud” with Rousey going, but with a serious injury as she holds a belt hostage, she’s treading dangerously close to Strikeforce Era Alistair Overeem territory (and perhaps in more ways than one).
Justino’s torn ankle ligament sounds like a serious injury, especially for a power puncher who relies on planting her feet deep into the mat to unleash damaging blows. She may be out for quite some time, meaning that it will be pushing two years out of the cage when she finally fights in 2015.
She was reportedly well on the way to making 135 pounds, but her feud with Rousey is on the backburner for now. Will the bout that many feel is by far the best female MMA fight ever happen?
