When the UFC created the 145-pound women’s featherweight division last December, it was with the intention of Cris “Cyborg” Justino fighting for the title after struggling to make weight for the 135-pound bantamweight division.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the division’s first title fight at UFC 208 on Saturday night at Barclays Center. First Justino said she needed at least until March to recover from a depleting weight cut for her last UFC fight at a 140-pound catch-weight. Then she tested positive for a banned substance, creating the possibility she could face a lengthy suspension.
Does this spell disaster for the new women’s featherweight division?
Hardly. Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie fought for the inaugural featherweight title Saturday night in Brooklyn and regardless how long Justino is out of action, the new division should add more depth, competition and opportunity in women’s MMA.
“I can guarantee you they can build this division in no time,” Holm said earlier in the week. “They just have to make some phone calls because there are a lot of girls out there that are very tough. And everybody’s goal is to be in the UFC. That’s the big thing. It’s got to start somewhere.”
It wasn’t that long ago, UFC president Dana White was reluctant to add a women’s division, citing a lack of interest and quality competition. Then he signed Ronda Rousey in 2012 and created the bantamweight division. A year later, the women’s strawweight (115-pound limit) division was created and over the past four years, female fighters have become among the most popular in the UFC.
They have headlined many of the most recent UFC shows, including UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, where 56,214 saw Holm upset Rousey; UFC 200 where Amanda Nunes won the title against Miesha Tate, and UFC 207 where Nunes successfully defended her bantamweight title against Rousey. Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is also a popular attraction and Valentina Shevchenko and Julianna Pena were the main event of UFC on Fox last month.
“The girls have changed everything,” said Anderson “Spider” Silva, whose fight against Derek Brunson was the co-feature Saturday night at Barclays Center. “It’s created more fans and more people to come watch. Sometimes I see the ladies fight and I think ‘Oh my gosh.’ But this is good for the sport.”
Make no mistake. The 145-pound division was created for Justino much the same way the 135-pound division was created for Rousey. Justino fight last September for the UFC at a 140-pound catch-weight was debilitating.
She is appealing her positive test, which she says was caused by a diuretic prescribed by her doctor. Whenever, she is eligible and healthy enough to fight again, the woman many consider the most dominant fighter in MMA will no doubt get a shot at her first UFC belt. In the meantime, the division gets a chance to get established, starting with Holm-de Randamie.
“Holly and I are going to fight and one of us will decide who is number one,” de Randamie said. “If one of us has to defend the title against Cris Cyborg, it will be Cris Cyborg who we defend the title against.”
Rousey dominated the 135-pound division winning her first six fights in the UFC with five of those wins coming in the first round. She became a phenomenon, appearing in movies and on magazine covers. Then she fought Holm in Australia.
Since then the bantamweight belt has changed hands two more times and Holm and Nunes and others have stepping into the spotlight as MMA stars. Holm expects the same depth and competition to evolve at featherweight.
“A lot of people were wondering about the 135-pound division when it was formed and then it flourished,” Holm said. “We’re going to start to see a lot of 145-pounders come out. We’re going to see a lot of them get better because they’re going to know that they have an opportunity that they can grasp on to.”