UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion Germaine de Randamie refuses to fight Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino.
De Randamie’s manager, Brian Butler, recently talked to MMA Fighting and explained why De Randamie refuses to defend her title against Justino.
“Germaine and her team have talked, and the position is that she will not fight Cyborg because Cyborg is a known and proven cheater,” Butler said. “Even after so much scrutiny has been put on Cyborg, she still managed to pop for something and will always be a person of suspicion who is trying to beat the system rather than just conforming to the rules.
“For that reason, Germaine and her team don’t believe that Cyborg should be allowed to compete in the UFC at all. If that is the only fight the UFC wants, then Germaine is willing to wait and see if the UFC will strip her belt before making her next move.”
De Randamie would rather be stripped of her title than have to defend her championship against Justino.
Back in February, De Randamie was crowned the first ever UFC women’s featherweight champion after defeating former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm.
“Cyborg” is a former Strikeforce, and Invicta, featherweight champion. In her career, Justino failed one drug test back in 2011 while fighting in Strikeforce. At that time, her latest win was overturned and she was suspended one year by the state of California.
Last year, “Cyborg” was temporarily suspended after being flagged by USADA for a potential failed drug test. However, she was later granted a retroactive therapeutic use exemption and was taken off suspension.
