UFC should be doing everything to get the Brazilian destroyer into the octagon if it wants its latest ‘world title’ to be anything more than a shiny belt

No matter how hard promoters attempt to convince the public otherwise, there is no such thing as a world champion in mixed martial arts.

The sport is structured in such a way that it produces promotional titleholders who are often labeled world champions regardless of how provincial they are because, of course, it sells better on a poster and sounds far more prestigious. But that’s created a strange situation in which there are multiples upon multiples of “world” champions across a multitude of weight classes.

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With very little mingling among promoters, large or small, the public and the media have mostly settled on the UFC as the true arbiter of things. For years the UFC belt has represented the de facto world championship title for MMA, and considering that the promotion has controlled much of the best talent during the last decade there is a fairly strong argument to make that this is simply how it should be.

Saturday’s UFC card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, however, marked a rare situation. A new championship belt was introduced into the UFC, and regardless of what happened in the main event of UFC 208 it would not be awarded to the No1 fighter in that division. This was indisputable ahead of the fight, and nothing changed afterwards.

Neither Germaine de Randamie, a converted Dutch kickboxer, nor her opponent, 33-year-old former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm, stepped into the Octagon regarded as the top 145lbs female in MMA — not even close. That distinction belongs to Cris “Cyborg” Justino, who will need to wait a bit longer until she finally gets a chance at attaining a title that has eluded her for a variety of reasons.

Sitting cage-side taking in the festivities, Justino unveiled a big smile as Holm and De Randamie concluded their five round contest.

Not only did de Randamie take the victory following a close unanimous decision (48-47 across the board), she, more importantly, secured an opportunity to become the first woman to defeat Justino since the Brazilian mauler debuted as a professional fighter in 2005.

This is somewhat like winning the Sword of Damocles at a raffle.

After 25 minutes there appeared little for “Cyborg” to be concerned about regarding the newly crowned UFC titleholder, who became the first Dutch champion since heavyweight Bas Rutten captured the title from Kevin Randleman in 1999.

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De Randamie is a quality kickboxer with enough power to rely on, but she falls considerably short of the sheer offensive firepower that Justino has leveled on the majority of her opponents along the way.

For women competing in MMA, toppling Cyborg has to be the ultimate challenge. With Ronda Rousey apparently done with fighting, there’s no question that Cyborg carries the largest target on her back. But that’s like saying an American naval destroyer is a target worth trying to net. Good luck.

Justino (17-1, 1 NC) has grown accustomed to opponents finding ways to avoid fighting her, and has created her own opportunities where she could. For the past few years that energy was spent on getting to Rousey at 135 pounds. Cyborg made ill-fated attempts to come close to fighting at bantamweight, but it was never going to happen. She’s plenty large at 145lbs, and shedding all that extra weight appeared to detract from her efforts in the cage as well as induce a serious risk to her health.

The UFC along the way refused to create a weight class to accommodate Justino because they said that there wasn’t enough talent to fill its ranks. It likely had more to do with protecting Rousey, who has since been exposed without having to face the pain Justino regularly unleashes. As for the UFC’s arguments about a shallow talent pool at 145, not much has changed. Yet it’s the realities of the financial picture of the UFC which prompted them to add another division despite holding the contractual rights to few fighters capable of competing there.



At the moment everything about women’s MMA at 145lbs is a mess, which is why Cyborg stands out like a lighthouse above a foggy shore. Presuming she will be cleared to fight after testing positive for a banned substance in January, this is the moment she has waited for. Parties involved, including UFC president Dana White, who now has vested interest in the female side of the featherweight division, and therefore Cyborg herself, believe the athletic and dangerous fighter is likely to avoid a serious suspension.

“I want to fight everybody,” De Randamie (7-3) said immediately after the UFC belt was placed around her waist. “If Cris ‘Cyborg’ is the one I have to fight, I’ll fight her.”

Without taking another breath, the 32-year-old Dutch striker noted this was an opportune time to undergo surgery and repair the torn ligaments in her hand she damaged during a 2015 stoppage victory over Larissa Pacheco. Apparently the pain wasn’t enough to keep her from finishing Anna Elmose next or edging out the experienced Holm, who dropped her third consecutive contest since dethroning Ronda Rousey.

With Cyborg, 31, waiting in the wings, now is the moment De Randamie wants to heal up and show up at her absolute best. It’s difficult to find fault in her thinking.

Cyborg seemed to take the news in stride, offering to fight another 145lb “world champion” instead. Invicta FC’s Megan Anderson stands as an interim belt holder even as Cyborg has held onto her “undisputed” status with the all-female promotion. If Justino opts to defend her title again it will be an Invicta bout — not UFC or Bellator, which promotes as good a fight as De Randamie-Holm in its first championship fight for women at 145lbs on March 3 pitting Marloes Coenen versus Julia Budd — that should be watched most closely.

If De Randamie (or someone else tied to the UFC female featherweight title) eventually ends Cyborg’s reign, only then will the promotion’s latest “world title” be worth more than a shiny belt.