For months now fans have been campaigning for a 145lb division to be added to the UFC. Dana White has now revealed Cyborg has recently turned down two UFC featherweight title fights against Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie. Holm VS Cyborg was rumoured earlier this week, fans were very excited about the potential fight.

Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast he reveals “What’s crazy about that is this: I offered Cris Cyborg a title fight at 145 pounds a month ago. She had eight weeks to get ready for it, she said she couldn’t make the weight, said she couldn’t make 145 pounds“. He continued “So then I offered her another 145-pound title fight for Brooklyn (UFC 208), she turned it down. She turned down two 145-pound title fights. One because she said she couldn’t make 145 pounds in eight weeks, and Joe Silva’s like ‘if she can’t make 145 pounds in eight weeks, 145 isn’t the right weight class for her either.”

White reveals more details “First of all, obviously when we did the deal with Cyborg we sat down with her and said ‘listen, if you can make it down to 135 pounds, maybe we can hire you a dietitian and help you get there or whatever, and get you in the mix, get you a couple of with these girls and then fight Ronda (Rousey) for the title,’ and she was all in. That’s why she signed the deal. Then she was having a hard time doing it, so she cut down to 140, then this whole thing about ‘I can’t make 140 pounds,’ finally we just said ‘fuck it, alright then, we’ll make a 145-pound title for you,’ and here we go. She said ‘I can’t make 145 pounds in eight weeks. This doesn’t have to do with weight. Obviously has nothing to do with weight cutting. I don’t know what it has to do with, but so we’re gonna figure it out.”



Apparently Cyborg wasn’t the only to turn down the fight, though. According to White, Holm was willing to fight the Brazilian striker at 145 pounds, but her coach Mike Winkeljohn advised her against it.

“And just for the record, Holly was so excited, Holly was so excited for that fight,” White said. “Her coach, John Winkeljohn [sic], said ‘that’s not the right fight for Holly.’ So Holly had to turn it down, so we went for Germaine, and Germaine wants the fight.”

It appears Germaine de Randamie is down to fight Cris Cyborg to determine the first ever UFC women’s featherweight champion, however Cyborg is still unable to accept the fight. Cris has been heavily campaigning for a 145lb division to be added to the UFC ever since her last fight, she must have a very good reason for not wanting to do them.

A 145lb division being added to the UFC would be huge for Women’s MMA. It would open the doors to women who can’t make 135 and introduce new female stars to the world.

What are your thoughts on the situation? Will the UFC offer the fight again, or has the chance been blown? Let us know in the comments below.

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