Ronda Rousey's Manager Lays Out Strong Conditions For Possible Cris Cyborg Fight

Ronda Rousey's manager Darin Harvey was a guest on today's edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, and had a lot to say about a possible bout with the currently-suspended Cristiane Santos. He laid out a list of conditions for the possible bout, including random testing and even hair follicle testing (drug molecules linger a lot longer in follicles) to make sure she hasn't been using any PEDs while out on suspension:

"I’ll tell you why," he said. "I believe this is not the first time she used steroids; it's only the first time she’s been caught.

"I wasn't surprised," he continued. "People have speculated but you couldn't really prove it. Now, it’s been proven. This is my belief. I’m not a doctor but I've been around athletes my whole life and I believe that when you take steroids, you alternate your body permanently. Maybe you lose some of the muscle mass, but a lot remains. So she’s permanently altered her body. And I want everything to be to our advantage. She's been taking male hormones, and it's not only unethical, it's freaking dangerous, and you're endangering the lives of the athletes. She's coming in there basically with man-like strength or male hormones in her body, and she's endangering the lives of our athletes."

Harvey stated it wasn't personal, just business. But the testing is necessary for the bout to happen:

"I won't sign the bout agreement unless they agree to random drug testing throughout the camp," he said. "From the beginning, from the date that the bout agreement is signed, or maybe even before that point, until the day that they fight. And if they don't agree to that, we wont fight her."

Another major stumbling block for the bout is the weight it would be contested at. Cyborg says she can't make 135, while Rousey says she has to for the bout to go forward. Rousey's manager reiterated that stance here:

"She's going to have to figure out a way to make the weight," he said. "And I believe she can make the weight."

Those are pretty strict conditions. To the point that I think it will be very, very hard to make this bout happen without some sort of compromise from both sides.