BALTIMORE – UFC President Dana White doesn’t believe women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey deserves to be reprimanded for calling Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino an “it.” The comment wasn’t any reference to sexuality, White insists, and only a reference to her past steroid use.

“I think that this is the fight business, and people say mean things about each other,” White said at Thursday’s pre-UFC 172 press conference in Baltimore. “Is it not true? Has [Justino] not taken (steroids)? She got busted for taking Winstrol, the same drug that Ben Johnson took and many other athletes took to do what? To cheat. Ronda called her a f—ing cheater.”

Rousey’s comments came in a recent interview with Yahoo! Sports, where the champ claimed Justino’s past steroid use was a major concern in the rapidly growing women’s division.

“I’ve said before, I don’t care if she’s injecting horse semen into her eyeballs, I’ll fight her, but that’s just my personal decision,” Rousey said. “But I can’t make a decision for the whole division. I can’t say it’s the right thing. This girl has been on steroids for so long and [has been] injecting herself for so long that she’s not even a woman anymore. She’s an ‘it.’ It’s not good for the women’s division. It’s not good at all.”

That comment drew the ire of many observers, who noted the statement could easily be construed as offensively misogynistic and noted the often offensive treatment of transgender fighter Fallon Fox as proof of why Rousey words were poorly chosen.

White believes that position is unfounded.

“She’s not a transgender fighter,” White said. “She’s a woman. What Ronda’s saying is, she’s taken so many drugs that she’s probably not a woman anymore. She’s not a transgender fighter. She didn’t have a surgery.

“Is she an it? Is she a transgender fighter? Did she have a surgery? She called her an it. … Grow the f–k up, everybody.”

Justino has long been rumored for a potential UFC showdown with Rousey, but the Brazilian slugger typically competes at 145 pounds and has admitted there was be some inherent physical risks with moving down to Rousey’s current home at 135 pounds.

In 2011, Justino was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for testing positive for stanozolol, a synthetic steroid commonly marketed under the brand name Winstrol. Upon her return to fighting, Justino has since scored two knockout wins and claimed the Invicta FC featherweight belt.

Her devastating knockout power has led most observers to believe she’s currently the only true threat to Rousey’s belt, but putting a fight together between the two has proven nearly impossible.

“She’s a nightmare in every way, shape and form,” White said. “At the end of the day, it’s not worth it for me in the big picture.”

Whether or not will ever happen remains to be seen. What is certain is that Rousey will not be asked to issue an apology for her remark, and the UFC boss stands firmly in her corner.

The same can’t be said for Justino.

“I think that when you’ve been on steroids for so long, it’s hard to get off of them and still perform,” White said.

For more on UFC 172, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.