De Randamie vs. Cyborg title fight likely not happening at UFC 214, Cyborg now wants July bout with Megan Anderson

By Tom Taylor - April 12, 2017

Having defeated Leslie Smith and Lina Lansberg in the UFC’s Octagon in 2016, Cris “Cyborg” Justino is now firmly embedded as a member of the promotion’s roster. As such, she was recently asked to vacate her Invicta featherweight title, which in turn meant that interim featherweight champion Megan Anderson was promoted to undisputed champ.

UFC women's featherweight division

No longer tied to Invicta, Cyborg has recently had her sights set firmly on Germaine De Randamie, who captured the UFC’s inaugural women’s featherweight title with a decision defeat of Holly Holm earlier this year.

Shortly after her title-winning defeat of Holm, de Randamie suggested that she would need some time off to recover from lingering injuries. As such, Cyborg has been campaigning for a title fight with De Randamie at UFC 214 in Anaheim, California, this July 29, presuming this would give the champ time to heal. Regrettably for Cyborg and her team, it seems as though this desired title fight will not occur in July.

Having heard from sources close to both sides of this potential title fight, BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor has confirmed that a UFC 214 battle between De Randamie and Cyborg is now a near-definite no-go.

With this title fight off the table, Cyborg has told BJPenn.com that she is keen to fight out the last two obligations on her contract and explore free agency. This, of course, means she is willing to accept non-title fights. Of all of the non-title fights available at this juncture, her team’s preference is a fight with the new Invicta champ Anderson.

Whether Anderson will be able to jump from Invicta to the UFC for a July fight is difficult to say, but given that De Randamie is no longer an option, Cyborg and her team have confirmed to BJPenn.com  that this fight is their new focus.

Cyborg recently told BJPenn.com that she previously made an effort to book a fight with Anderson, but that Anderson’s camp suggested she wasn’t quite ready for a jump to the UFC.

Anderson, meanwhile, refuted these claims, assuring she has never been offered a fight with Cyborg.

Needless to say, things are complicated in the new UFC women’s featherweight division at present. Perhaps UFC President Dana White described it best at the UFC 210 post-fight press conference.

“It’s been weird,” he said.

 

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/12/2017.


Topics:

Cris 'Cyborg' Justino Exclusive MMA Interviews Germaine de Randamie Megan Anderson