Cris Cyborg går match den 29 juli på UFC 214 mot Invicta FCs bantamviktsmästare Tonya Evinger för att tävla om den tomma platsen som mästare i UFCs fjäderviktsdivision.
Evinger kan dock beskrivas som plan C när det gäller motståndare för Cyborg. Det var först tänkt att Cyborg skulle möta den forne mästaren Germaine de Randamie men de Randamie blev hellre av med titeln än ställde upp på att möta Cyborg. Nästa tänkta alternativ var Megan Anderson men hon tvingades hoppa av matchen.
UFCs VD Dana White har vid ett flertal tillfällen sagt att bristen på kvinnliga fjäderviktare var en av anledningarna till att han inte ville öppna upp en fjäderviktsdivision för damer i UFC. Cyborg har dock alltid påstått motsatsen, att det visst finns nog med fighters för att bygga en division.
Under ett samtal med media under tisdagen berättade hon att UFC har ett ansvar när det gäller bristen på fjäderviktare i organisationen.
Since it took a long time for the UFC to open the (featherweight) division, most of the athletes signed with Bellator. That’s why the girls with bigger names in the division are at Bellator. But some still are in Invicta. I was going to fight Megan Anderson, but due to lack of (visa) she won’t be able to fight — and also due to her irresponsibility, she pulled out of the fight a month before.
Med Julia Budd (10-2) som den nuvarande mästaren i fjädervik har Bellator just nu 11 andra fjäderviktare i divisionen. Bland andra Marloes Coenen (23-8), Alexis Dufresne (6-3), Sinead Kavanagh (4-1) och Talita Nogueira (6-0).
Cyborg har slagits i UFC två gånger såhär långt och har avslutat Leslie Smith och svenskan Lina Länsberg via TKO. Cyborg tycker att motståndaren Tonya Evinger, obesegrad i sina åtta senaste matcher med flera titelförsvar i Invicta FC, är modig.
Tonya accepted the fight on a month’s notice, saving the event and giving me an opportunity to fight. She’s coming from the (bantamweight) division, but I think she’s a top 10 at 135, she just never had the chance to fight in the UFC. And she’s brave. I respect her for fighting me on short notice, and that also gives her a chance to show her work inside the UFC and, who knows, open more doors for her to fight at 135, her original division.
I believe Tonya is a great opponent, she has a lot of fights and experience. I believe she will give me more trouble than Megan Anderson because she has more experience. We’ll see. I don’t like to talk before the fights, inside the Octagon is different. Everybody has a game plan, but the plan changes after the first punch.
De Randamie, Cyborgs första tänkta motstånd, hade enligt Cyborg aldrig tänkt försvara sitt fjäderviktsbälte hon vann efter att ha besegrat Holly Holm.
(The champion) can’t turn down a fight if he thinks you’re tough, if you’re a tough fight. It doesn’t matter. If you have the belt, you have to fight anyone. Like Dana White said, she knew, even before she entered the Octagon (against Holm) that, if she won, she would have to fight me, so I believe she acted in bad faith, she already went there with this intention of going back to her division if she won the belt and try to become the first (female) athlete to hold two belts.
I believe that some athletes have fear, but you have to work on that. Athletes can’t have fear. Fear of what? Fear of losing? Everybody loses one day. You win and lose. Both fighters can’t win in this sport, so you have to leave it in God’s hands. Losing is not the end of the world. Losing is natural, the better prepared athlete will win.
If you’re a fighter, you might lose a battle but you can’t lose the war. That’s what fans love, overcoming, bouncing back and winning again. That’s what makes an athlete grow and fans to follow you. You go through hard times without fear of losing because that might happen.
UFC tog ifrån de Randamie hennes bälte efter att hon sagt att hon inte ville möta Cyborg på grund av hennes tidigare doping. Så Cyborg kommer nu gå match om en tom titelplats men hon själv ser det på ett annat sätt.
I see this fight in the UFC as a title defense for me. I haven’t lost my belt. I vacated it. To me, it’s like a title defense. Some people might see the UFC as something with more value than the one that I held before, but, to me, it’s another title defense. I train and work hard as if I were always the No. 1 contender for every fight though.
