Cris 'Cyborg' Justino is posing in front of the crowd at the UFC 198 weigh-ins. (Photo : Getty Images/Buda Mendes)
Cris Cyborg had a very impressive UFC debut on May 14, Saturday when she defeated Leslie Smith via first-round knockout. Cyborg also wants the UFC to have its own women's featherweight division, but she is open to fighting at the catchweight of 140 pounds.
The 30-year-old used her high-level striking to beat down Smith at UFC 198 in front of her fans at Curitiba, Brazil. Many fans are now wondering what's next for Cyborg, who is still the Invicta featherweight champion.
In an open letter to fans via her Facebook page, the Brazilian mentioned that she wants to fight for the rights of women in the UFC. She also noted that the biggest MMA promotion needs to have a featherweight division.
"If you look at the 135lbs division only @sarahkaufmanmma fought her entire career at 135, all of the other women were either forced up from 125 or pushed down from 145 to create this division of 135," Cyborg wrote.
The Curitiba native then pointed out that she is open to fighting Miesha Tate, Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey. However, she will only do it at a catchweight of 140 pounds so it will be fair to her and her opponent.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Cyborg may defend her Invicta championship next before fighting at another catchweight bout in the UFC. Tate, the current UFC women's bantamweight champion, is open to fighting Cyborg at 140 pounds.
However, the champ will not be putting her title on the line since it is a catchweight fight. Nonetheless, Tate has to successfully defeat Amanda Nunes at UFC 200 before thinking of fighting Cyborg.
Impressive performance by @criscyborg tonight!! What a powerful woman! Congrats on making 139lbs! 4 more and we can have a title fight!
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) May 15, 2016
On the other hand, Rousey is still not ready to return to fighting while Holm has a fight in July as she will face Valentina Shevchenko at UFC on FOX 20. Cyborg weighed 139 pounds for her bout against Smith but her nutritionist, George Lockhart thinks that she can go down for four more pounds.
Lockhart told MMA Fighting in an interview that Cyborg can make the 135-lb limit to fight at bantamweight, but he is worried about her performance. He added that it is hard to cut down weight and it can affect a fighter's performance during a fight.
Check out the video below for the highlights of Cyborg vs. Smith at UFC 198.
