Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino is in Brooklyn, New York for UFC 208 on Saturday night.
Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm will fight Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship in the main event.
Justino is the current Invicta featherweight champion and was the first, and only, Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion.
“Cyborg” has been the most dominant women’s featherweight fighter in the world for the past decade. She is unbeaten in her last 18 fights. Eight of those fights had titles on the line. Her last twelve fights have all ended by knockout or TKO.
The UFC’s creation of a women’s 145-pound title has been surrounded by controversy due to the absence of Justino.
Justino is currently serving a temporary suspension by USADA after testing positive for banned substances in an out-of-competition test.
However, on Friday, UFC President Dana White told ESPN there is a good chance of Justino receiving a retroactive exemption for the banned substance.
“It’s actually looking really good now,” White said. “Apparently, the three (medical conditions) she has is what this medicine is used for. It’s looking really good. It was looking bad for a minute, but now it’s looking better. We’re in a good place.”
At this time it is unknown what type of role “Cyborg” will play at UFC 208. With her in the Barclays Center, there is a good chance of Justino having a staredown with the new UFC women’s featherweight champion.
“We’ll have to see, but why would you not want to face Cris Cyborg?” White said. “Especially if you’re Holly, you’ve already held that title. You had 18 titles in boxing. If she could go in and beat Cris Cyborg, you know?”
