UFC featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie recently revealed that she desires to drop back to her initial weight class of 135 pounds. Beyond that, the champion is not interested in facing off against former Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino. Now, another former champion has decided to give her opinion on the situation.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate recently explained that she believes “The Iron Lady” may be a little scared of “Cyborg.”
In an interview with MMA Junkie, Miesha Tate explained her point of view.
“I feel like as the champ, you have to fight everybody. ‘Cyborg’ has proven to have been one of the best for a long time. She’s a scary lady. I don’t blame Germaine in the fact of being a little bit scared, but that’s her job. Don’t fight at 145 if you don’t think you can be the best at that division.
“That’s my question: Why is she the 145-pound champ if she doesn’t want to be the 145-pound champ? I guess that’s where I can’t understand where her mindset is. I understand that she has her reservations, and that’s her personal opinion about ‘Cyborg.’ Obviously ‘Cyborg’ has been caught before. She has been caught taking performance-enhancing drugs. That’s unfortunate because I don’t think she needs them. I think she’s proven that she’s one of the best in the world without them.”
Tate continued,
“That’s Germaine’s personal opinion – I can’t speak to that – but I do think as the champion that she should fight the best in the world, and I think that ‘Cyborg’ is the best in the world. I think she has a job to do, and that’s to be the champ. And to be the champ, you have to be the best, and to be the best, you have to beat the best. That’s ‘Cyborg.’
“I think Germaine feels that ‘Cyborg’ has an unfair advantage. I think that’s what she feels like, and she thinks that’s not fair. I think that’s where her reservation is. She feels that ‘Cyborg’ is a cheater. Therefor she’s obviously a lot smaller and not as strong, and who can compete with ‘Cyborg?’ I don’t think there’s anyone at 145 that competes with her. … I think she just feels like it’s not fair. I guess scared in a fighter’s term – there’s fair, and there’s not. She feels it’s not fair.”
