Dana White: Cris Cyborg is ‘irrelevant’
UFC President Dana White shared thoughts about Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos’ desire to terminate the contract with the UFC, after the parties failed to agree on terms for the Brazilian’s much-anticipated encounter with Ronda Rousey.
Santos competes at 145lbs (Featherweight) division, which already demands a heavy weight cut. According to Cyborg and her manager, UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz, dropping down to 135lbs would be physically impossible.
Former Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight champion will now continue her career elsewhere, most likely in the all-women MMA promotion Invicta. Famous for her aggressive, trademark Chute Boxe style, Cyborg is still one of the biggest attractions in the world of Mixed Martial Arts, and an immediate threat to Ronda Rousey‘s reign as a champion.
Dana White is not happy to lose one of the biggest draws in WMMA (quotes via BloodyElbow.com):
“I’m telling you right now, she wants nothing to do with this fight with Ronda (Rousey). This is the biggest show in the world. We’re working with her to get her a deal or whatever. When you send a letter from your lawyer and your doctor saying I will die if I try to make 135 (pounds), it’s just the goofiest thing. I’ve never seen anything like it in the fight business.
“Okay, so you don’t want to make 135, but you want to talk about fighting Ronda. First of all, you tested positive for steroids and got stripped of your title. And you’re trying to talk about how Ronda doesn’t want to fight you, but she’s the champion at 135. If Ronda goes and does the fight at 140 and does the fight at 140, it’s not even for a title. The fight just makes no sense.
“So what happens is, so we’ll figure something out where Cyborg gets some fights. Ronda defends her title a few times. Then maybe Ronda moves up to whatever and fights… they want nothing to do with that, wants nothing to do with it. It’s wacky beyond wackiness.
“There is no 145-pound women’s division. She’s under contract with us, so we’d get her some fights somewhere else. We get her some fights. Let’s play this 135-pound thing out and see what happens, see where this thing goes. No.
“Cyborg is pretty much irrelevant right now. She really is. She’s irrelevant. Go out there and win some fights again, get your name back, stay clean, stay off some steroids and get your career back on track and then we’ll talk. But for her to think that everybody should move around and jump through hoops for her is insane.”
