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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Count UFC Flyweight Champ Demetrious Johnson among those not interested in Ronda Rousey vs. Cris "Cyborg" Justino as a bantamweight fight.
"Mighty Mouse" commented on the bout during a media luncheon this week in Los Angeles ahead of UFC 191, and thinks it's a diminished fight with Cyborg cutting down that significant an amount of weight.
"The Cyborg and Ronda Rousey fight, Ronda is like, 'I'll fight you at 135 [lbs.]' If [Cyborg] made 135, and granted, she did the drugs and that's in the past and she's a big woman from doing that, but her making 135 pounds, it wouldn't be the same Cris Cyborg as at 145 [lbs.]," Johnson said (via MMAFighting.com).
"When people get pumped up at the fight, I can't get pumped up. Because it's not going to be the same Cris Cyborg at 145 [lbs.] that's going to be all drained, especially without an IV, to me, that's garbage."
Despite Johnson's line of thought on the bout, the UFC appears intent on having Cyborg get to 135 lbs. before booking the fight with Rousey.
Penick's Analysis: It's a valid concern regarding the Rousey-Cyborg matchup, because if Justino is going to be massively diminished just in order to make the cut down, the fight itself may not be nearly as intriguing as it might be otherwise. Of course, Rousey's never going to make full concessions to Cyborg, and doesn't particularly care if the fight itself actually comes together it seems. Which is fine; they're in different weight classes, and though Rousey competed at 145 lbs. to begin her career, the vast majority of her fights have come at 135 lbs. Would she be at a massive disadvantage by giving Cyborg the extra five pounds for a catchweight? Probably not, but again, she's taken the position that she's not conceding anything to former Strikeforce Champ.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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