Megan Anderson Vows To Show ‘How Human’ Cris Cyborg Is
Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson will have the opportunity of a lifetime when she steps into the Octagon at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017 in Anaheim, California to take on Cris Cyborg for the vacant UFC featherweight championship.
Cyborg is considered by many to be the very best female fighter in the world, and she is undoubtedly one of the most feared fighters in the world. Anderson, however, is planning to prove just ‘how human’ Cyborg is:
“She’s human like everybody else,” Anderson told the Fight Society podcast (via FOX Sports). “I think a lot of people go into that fight fighting Cyborg the name and they’ve already lost before they’ve got into the cage. I don’t give a [expletive] about how many followers she has. I don’t give a [expletive] about how much reach she has. She’s a human being and I have no doubt come July 29 everyone who’s doubting me will find out how human Cris Cyborg can really be.”
Justino has fought twice in the UFC to date, scoring back-to-back stoppage victories over Leslie Smith and Lina Lansberg in 140-pound catchweight bouts. Earlier this year, the UFC introduced a women’s featherweight division, but Cyborg was not featured in the inaugural title fight. Instead, Germaine de Randamie scored a somewhat controversial decision victory over Holly Holm this past February to become the promotion’s first female 145-pound titleholder.
De Randamie, however, refused to fight Cyborg, which led the UFC to strip her of her title, and book Cyborg against Anderson, who was scheduled to headline an Invicta card in July. As far as de Randamie goes, Anderson feels as if she ‘held up’ the fledgling division:
“I think she didn’t want to come up against someone who’s going to have a lot of size advantage over her. I understand her reasoning behind [not taking the fight] but the rules aren’t what she’s wanting them to be. So you have to fight the top contenders regardless whether six years ago Cris had [tested positive] for performance enhancing drugs or not. She doesn’t get the choice. You’re the champion, you fight the No. 1 contender.”
“And while it’s great that a new champion will be crowned this summer, it will still leave UFC with plenty of problems, as there aren’t a lot of 145-pound women on the roster to keep the division busy, especially since the former champ is going back down to 135 pounds.”
What do you make of Anderson’s comments ahead of UFC 214?
