Kemal
10-02-2013, 07:34
The saga surrounding Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos continued on Friday when her manager said a request has been made to have her released from her UFC contract.
Just this past week, UFC President Dana White confirmed that Santos is under contract with the UFC and is owed fights from the deal she had with Strikeforce before that promotion closed in January.
The consensus has been that the fight everyone wants to see is Santos (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. new UFC women's bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey. But Santos is the former Strikeforce champion at 145 and has thus far been unwilling to consider a drop to 135. And Rousey (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) doesn't believe she should have to go up to accommodate a challenger should she get past Liz Carmouche (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) later this month in the main event of UFC 157.
It may fall under the category of a dream fight that everyone wants, but will never happen.
On Friday, Santos' manager, UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz, told AXS TV's "Inside MMA" that Santos wants out.
"Right now, we're actually waiting for the UFC to release her," Ortiz said. "We asked for them to release her, and Dana actually talked to me (Thursday). They gave an offer, and I went to Cyborg and she didn't want to do it, so we asked for her release. Since they're not having a 145-pound weight class, what else can they do?
"So as of now, she's going to be released, and maybe we'll go looking somewhere else and you'll be seeing Cyborg crush some other women's faces."
Santos has not fought since a December 2011 16-second TKO win over Hiroko Yamanaka to defend her Strikeforce title. But that win was overturned to a no contest when Santos tested positive for steroids. She was suspended for a year by the California State Athletic Commission and stripped of her title by Strikeforce and parent company Zuffa.
Santos and Ortiz, as well as White, have been open to the possibility of a catch weight fight between Santos and Rousey at 140 pounds. But even White said that doesn't do much good when it comes to determining women's champions.
"It's not a title fight," White said prior to this past week's UFC 156 event in Las Vegas. "If that's what (Santos) is willing to do is go to 140, let's let Ronda defend her title a few times and see if Ronda wants to go to 140. If I know Ronda, she probably would anyway, so let's see what happens. But if (Santos) wants to fight for a title and have a title fight, she has to go to 135 pounds. A fight at 140 would be a fan fight because everybody wants to see it, but it's not one of those fights that makes sense."
Ortiz concurs that it's indeed a fight everyone wants to see. And that's why he and his client are pining to get it done at 140 pounds.
Ortiz also implied that the UFC's plan for Rousey was to get her signed, then have fight for the all-female Invicta Fighting Championship promotion and not in the UFC. The UFC currently features just the 135-pound women's division, but just one fight has been booked – Rousey-Carmouche. White recently told MMAjunkie that a media event introducing the new talent in the women's division is in the planning stages.
But with no immediate plans for a 145-pound division, that would leave Santos out in the cold, anyway. The UFC and Invicta have no formal partnership for sharing talent.
"Everyone wants to see this fight," Ortiz said. "It's blowing up on Twitter. They want to see the fight. (So) make it at a 140-pound weight class. The UFC wanted to sign a huge deal with Cyborg, but they wanted to stick her over in Invicta. It didn't make any sense to me. I've talked to Cyborg time and time again, asking her and asking her. She said, 'I'd love to do a three-fight deal with a fourth fight being against Ronda. Let's get it done at 140 and not fight for the 135-pound championship.'"
The issue that has come up time and time again is Santos being able to get to 135 pounds. Ortiz said for the 5-foot-8 Brazilian to make that cut, she'd be putting her future health and wellness in jeopardy.
"For her to get down to 135 pounds is physically impossible for a woman," he said. "For a man, it's different because we have a lot more water weight to take off. For Cris Cyborg to get down to that weight, she's going to be 3 to 4 percent body fat. I've talked to her. She says she wants to start a family later on, she wants to have kids."
Without a fight already for the past 14 months, Santos may not yet see the light at the end of the tunnel if she is asking for a release and is not granted one.
In the meantime, Rousey becomes the first female headliner of a UFC card later this month.
Just this past week, UFC President Dana White confirmed that Santos is under contract with the UFC and is owed fights from the deal she had with Strikeforce before that promotion closed in January.
The consensus has been that the fight everyone wants to see is Santos (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. new UFC women's bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey. But Santos is the former Strikeforce champion at 145 and has thus far been unwilling to consider a drop to 135. And Rousey (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) doesn't believe she should have to go up to accommodate a challenger should she get past Liz Carmouche (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) later this month in the main event of UFC 157.
It may fall under the category of a dream fight that everyone wants, but will never happen.
On Friday, Santos' manager, UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz, told AXS TV's "Inside MMA" that Santos wants out.
"Right now, we're actually waiting for the UFC to release her," Ortiz said. "We asked for them to release her, and Dana actually talked to me (Thursday). They gave an offer, and I went to Cyborg and she didn't want to do it, so we asked for her release. Since they're not having a 145-pound weight class, what else can they do?
"So as of now, she's going to be released, and maybe we'll go looking somewhere else and you'll be seeing Cyborg crush some other women's faces."
Santos has not fought since a December 2011 16-second TKO win over Hiroko Yamanaka to defend her Strikeforce title. But that win was overturned to a no contest when Santos tested positive for steroids. She was suspended for a year by the California State Athletic Commission and stripped of her title by Strikeforce and parent company Zuffa.
Santos and Ortiz, as well as White, have been open to the possibility of a catch weight fight between Santos and Rousey at 140 pounds. But even White said that doesn't do much good when it comes to determining women's champions.
"It's not a title fight," White said prior to this past week's UFC 156 event in Las Vegas. "If that's what (Santos) is willing to do is go to 140, let's let Ronda defend her title a few times and see if Ronda wants to go to 140. If I know Ronda, she probably would anyway, so let's see what happens. But if (Santos) wants to fight for a title and have a title fight, she has to go to 135 pounds. A fight at 140 would be a fan fight because everybody wants to see it, but it's not one of those fights that makes sense."
Ortiz concurs that it's indeed a fight everyone wants to see. And that's why he and his client are pining to get it done at 140 pounds.
Ortiz also implied that the UFC's plan for Rousey was to get her signed, then have fight for the all-female Invicta Fighting Championship promotion and not in the UFC. The UFC currently features just the 135-pound women's division, but just one fight has been booked – Rousey-Carmouche. White recently told MMAjunkie that a media event introducing the new talent in the women's division is in the planning stages.
But with no immediate plans for a 145-pound division, that would leave Santos out in the cold, anyway. The UFC and Invicta have no formal partnership for sharing talent.
"Everyone wants to see this fight," Ortiz said. "It's blowing up on Twitter. They want to see the fight. (So) make it at a 140-pound weight class. The UFC wanted to sign a huge deal with Cyborg, but they wanted to stick her over in Invicta. It didn't make any sense to me. I've talked to Cyborg time and time again, asking her and asking her. She said, 'I'd love to do a three-fight deal with a fourth fight being against Ronda. Let's get it done at 140 and not fight for the 135-pound championship.'"
The issue that has come up time and time again is Santos being able to get to 135 pounds. Ortiz said for the 5-foot-8 Brazilian to make that cut, she'd be putting her future health and wellness in jeopardy.
"For her to get down to 135 pounds is physically impossible for a woman," he said. "For a man, it's different because we have a lot more water weight to take off. For Cris Cyborg to get down to that weight, she's going to be 3 to 4 percent body fat. I've talked to her. She says she wants to start a family later on, she wants to have kids."
Without a fight already for the past 14 months, Santos may not yet see the light at the end of the tunnel if she is asking for a release and is not granted one.
In the meantime, Rousey becomes the first female headliner of a UFC card later this month.