We will probably never see Ronda Rousey fight in the UFC ever again, so that means a future matchup against Cris “Cyborg” Justino in the octagon will never happen. However, Cyborg is willing to fight Rousey in a WWE ring. This talk of a fight between Cyborg and Rousey was ignited by Rousey’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan who told MMAFighting.com that he’s unsure if Rousey would come back to the UFC, but if she did, she should definitely fight Cyborg. “That’s the one,” Tarverdyan said. “I want that fight. When I trained Ronda, I know Ronda could beat Cyborg. I know that. Cyborg is too slow.”
Justino responded to Tarverdyan’s comments in a post on her website. “If Ronda is going to return for only one more fight, I think it should be against Miesha Tate,” Justino said. “When I wanted to fight her, it was because she was at the top of her game and she had all of the confidence in the world. She had not been KO’d twice in a row and some people were actually saying she could beat Floyd Mayweather in a fight. I wanted the challenge so bad I almost killed myself trying to make the lowest weight possible just to give this fight to the fans, and she made every excuse for it not to happen.”
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Justino said Rousey and her “are now at different chapters in our careers,” but was willing to take the fight to the WWE. “If Ronda is wanting to make the fight for the fans, I would still be willing to give them it, but I think it would be better to take place inside the WWE ring,” Justino said. “For her, it gets her one step closer to Hollywood, and for me, it would be another exciting challenge and a chance to test my athletic ability. I also think this would be the best platform for Edmond as he is not nothing but a joke of a coach!”
The 32-year-old Justino (18-1) is currently training in Thailand and recently obtained her professional boxing license in the state of California. The Brazilian is coming off a TKO win against Tonya Evinger at UFC 214 and has 16 career knockouts.
Rousey (12-2) hasn’t fought since suffering a 48-second knockout loss to bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 on December 30, 2016, which was following losing her title to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November of 2015.
[NYP]