Cris 'Cyborg' Justino is posing in front of the crowd at the UFC 198 weigh-ins. (Photo : Getty Images/Buda Mendes)
Holly Holm vs. Cris Cyborg could have been the fight that determined the inaugural UFC women's featherweight champion. However, Holm did not want to go over 138 pounds while Cyborg reportedly turned down the fight.
In a recent interview MMA Fighting, Holm's agent Lenny Fresquez revealed that they have accepted the fight against Cyborg. They were okay with it not being for the featherweight title since they wanted it at 136 or 138 pounds.
"We make decisions as a team. We accepted the Cyborg fight up to a certain weight limit. On two different occasions, we went up on weight, and Cyborg turned them down. We did that as a team. As a team, we didn't want to go up as high 145 pounds," Frequez said.
Holm, who is a former featherweight champion, is on a two-fight losing streak. She lost her title to Miesha Tate back on March 5 at UFC 196 via submission before getting dominated by Valentina Schevchenko last July.
On the other hand, Cyborg is unwilling to go down 145 pounds because of the difficulty of cutting weight. She said in a statement via Yahoo! Sports that she almost died cutting weight and it was under the supervision of UFC nutritionist George Lockhart.
"In my last weight cut, I almost died. I was in the bathtub cutting weight, and I thought, 'I will die in this bathtub.' It was the worst weight cut of my life," Cyborg said.
UFC president Dana White said on the latest episode of UFC Unfiltered that Cyborg turned down two title fights. The first fight was against Holm for the featherweight championship but it did not happen due to Holm wanting to do it at 138 pounds.
The second fight was against Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, New York. The addition of more weight division for women has been advocated by many fighters. The UFC currently has two women's weight classes, the 115-pound strawweight division, and the 135-pound bantamweight division.
The current and only champion in the history of the strawweight division is Joanna Jedrzejczyk. On the other hand, Amanda Nunes is the reigning queen of the bantamweight division. She is set to defend her title against Ronda Rousey at UFC 207 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Check out the video below for an interview with Holm regarding a fight with Cyborg.
