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Prior to the controversy surrounding the cancelled UFC 151 event, there was another controversy brewing between current Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey and former Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg†Santos. To break it down as simply as possible, both women would like to fight each other, the disagreement comes in where the weight class is concerned.
The bantamweight champion in Ronda Rousey believes the fight should happen at 135 pounds, while the former featherweight champion in Cyborg believes the fight should be contested at 145 pounds. Quickly, the reason that Cyborg is being referred to as the former champion is because she was stripped of her title following a failed drug test in late-2011. Even with the title being stripped from her, Cyborg believes that she is still a champion, despite not having the official decree of being one.
Rumors swirled around during Cyborg’s title reign that a then featherweight Ronda Rousey was going to challenge her for the gold, but then dropped to bantamweight before defeating then champion Miesha Tate for her title. So with that being said, the question that lies in front of us is should the former champ drop 10 pounds and challenge Ronda Rousey for the title or should the current bantamweight champion add ten pounds and fight the woman who was never defeated for her championship?
Logically, it would seem that the champion (in this case Ronda Rousey) should dictate where the fight happens at, considering there is still a title belt around her waist. However, Cyborg claims that the only reason Ronda Rousey dropped to bantamweight was due to her fearing a fight with the former champion, so Rousey can conceivably add 10 pounds to her frame and face Cyborg at her natural weight class and possibly shut the Brazilian up.
Just for the sake of argument, other MMA champions have changed weight classes to accept fights, most notably UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Despite being the UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva stepped up and defeated both James Irvin and Forrest Griffin at light heavyweight, a weight class 20 pounds above his natural weight class (185 pounds).
I think the bigger issue for having the fight at featherweight is that after Cyborg was suspended, Zuffa (Strikeforce’s owner) eliminated the women’s featherweight division. So, from a hypothetical standpoint, if Cyborg is able to defeat Ronda Rousey, she defeated a champion in a weight class above the champions and walks away without the title itself. The same thing can apply to Ronda Rousey, because if she were to defeat Cyborg, she did so without the title on the line.
In this humble writers opinion, Cyborg has to find a way to drop ten pounds and challenge Ronda Rousey for the gold, because there is more money and fan interest when the rivalry is for the title instead of just for bragging rights. Besides, Cyborg was stripped of her title after a failed drug test, so she owes Strikeforce more than Strikeforce owes her.
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