Last night (Friday, Feb 17) it was announced that Cris Cyborg’s USADA case has been sorted and she will not serve a suspension. For the UFC, and the 145lbs division, this is very good news. Not only is Cyborg a dangerous, ferocious, powerful fighter, but she’s also a big draw. In her first fight, she dismantled Leslie Smith at UFC 198 before stopping Lina Lansberg in the third round of their bout in the headliner of UFC Brasilia. Despite horrendous weight cuts on both of those occasions, she’s looked impressive and dangerous.
Brazil are a massively patriotic country when it comes to sporting events, and pretty much everything else, so it’s needless to say she’s a huge start there already. The main audience of the Ultimate Fighting Championship is American, and Cyborg is also a big name in the States too. With her pressure heavy, violent and plain brutal fighting style, American fans took to her very well. Now, obviously the Brazilian has a fair share of haters, mainly due to the past steroid issues, but they also tune in; yes they want to see her lose, but they tune in.
The Women’s Featherweight Division was created because of Cris Cyborg. Whether you care to admit it or not, if Cyborg hadn’t signed with the UFC and hadn’t campaigned so much for a 145lbs division, it wouldn’t be here. With that in mind, it must have been gut wrenching for Dana White and the rest of the UFC when not long after they made the announcement, Cyborg was flagged by USADA. Now she’s cleared, though, and I imagine they can’t wait to throw her in there.
Do the UFC need Cybirg right now? Yes. Simple answer; the debut of the 145lbs division was the main event of UFC 208, where Germaine de Randamie took a close, and slight bit controversial decision over Holly Holm. How much damage did this fight really do? Well, let’s take into account all the bad things that happened. Not only was the fight a little bit lacklustre, but Germaine de Randamie went from fan favourite to villain in the fight, after landing shots after the bell on more than one occasion. That’s not to mention the questionable decision. If Cyborg hadn’t been cleared, I believe the best option for the UFC would have been to set up a rematch between Holm and de Randamie, but now I can’t see that happening.
Honestly, I don’t know what you do with Holm next, as I thought she won the fight, but in the record books, she’s lost three in a row. The next thing for de Randamie, though, should be a title fight against Cris Cyborg. With all due respect to de Randamie, the best possible thing that could happen for this division is for Cyborg to return, face the Dutchwoman, and take the title.
Cyborg can be a very marketable fighter; she has the ability to put most people unconscious, can speak English, and she runs her mouth a little bit too. There is only one problem. Promote Cyborg all you want, sing her praises and tell everybody how good she is, but who is she going to fight? The first three people that come to mind are Germaine de Randamie, Holly Holm, and Invicta champion Megan Anderson. There will likely be some current UFC Batnamweight fighters jumping up with the chance of a title shot against Cyborg, but how many big names is there?
Cyborg is vital to this division, and I believe she can become champion, but is it just going to end up being like a football (soccer) league with five teams and they all end up facing each other ten times a season? Rematches are hard to sell, especially if it’s between a champion and a challenger and the champion won the first fight. The UFC have got Cyborg back, and will likely throw her in against Germaine de Randamie next, but their big problem now is looking five fights down the line, who does she fight? I’m not saying more talent won’t emerge, because MMA is an ever growing sport and new talent comes through every day, but for now, the future looks bleak for the women’s featherweight division.
