Just last week, Cris Cyborg was on the FS1 show “Speak for Yourself.” She was talking about her current UFC run, and eventual hopes of fighting Ronda Rousey. A big part of that conversation, for her, centered around the lack of a featherweight division to support her UFC career going forward. It’s a problem that Cyborg is putting down to nationality, and to looks (transcript via Fox Sports).
"Because if I’m American and everything I did for the sport, I'd already have my division," Cyborg said on "Speak for Yourself" on Thursday. "But I don't feel sorry, I'll just try to do 140 and make amazing fights for my fans. I'm in the UFC now because my fans want to see me there and because I love my job."
This time around, it was Dana White making the guest spot of “Speak for Yourself” and while he was there, he took the opportunity to respond to Cyborg’s comments and make it clear that, at least in his eyes, the Invicta featherweight champion is getting every opportunity that the UFC can give her (transcript via MMA Fighting).
"Let me ask you a question: what makes somebody a star?" White said. "What has been done with Ronda (Rousey) that hasn't been done with Cyborg, as far as being a star? Ronda is a world champion, had the belt and everything else. We don't have a belt in that (featherweight) division. We don't have that weight division for Cyborg ... because there aren't enough good women at 145 pounds to create an entire division."
"I actually run the business, I actually know what's going on. She can say it's B.S. (that there aren't enough women). I actually know."
White went on to explain that Rousey’s ability to attract attention to herself outside the sport with her film career and her sponsorship opportunities is a big reason behind her success and something that other fighters tend to chalk up to the UFC, even if they shouldn’t necessarily.
He also continued to push the narrative that a bout between Rousey and Cyborg would happen at some point down the road. “She wins that fight [against Nunes], her and Cris Cyborg are eventually going to fight. Ronda wants that fight. It will be the biggest pay-per-view in UFC history,” White said.
However, without any elaboration on what “eventually” means, Rousey vs. Cyborg still has the dreamlike quality of Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre. It’s a big fight that, while everyone seems to want it, never really seems to get any closer than “maybe” to actually happening.