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Just when it seemed like everyone had come to their senses and that Cristiane Santos would be gearing up her diet and training regimen so she could gradually lose enough weight to make the 135lb weight limit for a super fight with newly minted UFC women's Bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, here comes Cyborg's manager Tito Ortiz with some new comments angling for a 140lb catchweight fight.
Here's what Tito told MMAInterviews.tv (transcribed by MMA Mania):
"Let's do a rematch and have a chance of her cutting to 135-pounds, possibly, if it's possible she can do it. It's just really tough, like I said. Just being with Cyborg and wrestling her myself, she's a big girl. To make it down to 135-pounds, it would be kind of health threatening, I think. But at the same time, I would love for the fight to happen. Let's meet in the middle.
...
"For a woman to cut that much weight... You gotta understand, she's small. She's cutting from 170 down trying to make 135, that's a big, big, big, big cut. That's a lot for a woman to cut. And it's just health reasons when it comes down to it. We want to see an exciting fight. Do it at 140-pounds, I think that would make the best difference.
"I support Ronda Rousey. I hope she does well and I hope she wins. I think the biggest fight in women's mixed martial arts is Cyborg vs. Ronda Rousey. At the same time, I wish Ronda can win the fight and just keep building for this big fight to happen."
Oh Tito.
It seems pretty clear from the UFC's strong backing of Rousey and Rousey's insistence that Cyborg come down to 135lbs that Tito and his client have less than zero negotiating leverage. It's past time for Tito to get real and realize that if his client wants to fight Ronda Rousey it's going to have to take place at 135 pounds.
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