Whitney Lott ~ Sports Editor
In the world of sports, there are a lot of people who are known for being the best. In the world of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Cristiane Justino Venancio, known as “Cyborg,” is one of the best in the fighting scene.
She was born on July 9, 1985 in Curitiba-Parana, Brazil. She weighs 140 pounds and is 5 foot 8 inches. She is known for Brazilian mixed martial arts, and she is a former Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Champion.
During the course of her Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) career, she has a record of 16 wins and one loss. Her one loss was to Erica Paes during the SF-Showfight 2 on May 17, 2015. She is a monster, who has 14 total knock-outs. When you watch her in a fight, you can see the aggression on her face; she is a very intense fighter.
Her most recent fight was against Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith. The fight ended during the first round at 1 minute and 21 seconds. Venancio got Smith on the ground and proceeded to win by knockout.
To be able to compete in the fight against Smith, Venancio had to lose at least 5 pounds. She was able to, but the problem comes down to her being too heavy to compete. Currently in the UFC, there are only two weight classes for women. The 115-pound strawweight and the 135-pound bantamweight.
Venancio wrote on Instagram, “Every UFC bantamweight in the history of the female division has fought at 145 pounds. Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.” She went on to add, “None of these girls have ever fought lighter than 135 pounds. Currently, there is not one girl in the bantamweight division’s Top 10 to have fought their entire career at 135 pounds, and half of the girls ranked in the bantamweight Top 10 are on a losing streak.”
She believes that they should make a division for her so that she and other women can compete more. When she lost weight for the fight against Smith, Venancio had a difficult time. If she was to weigh 135 pounds, according to her professional nutritional guidance, it would not be healthy for her.
Along with her wanting a new weight class, she wants to fight Ronda Rousey. But from what I have read, it seems that Rousey does not want to fight against her. An article on MMA Weekly stated that Rousey said she was not a fan of Venancio testing positive for a drug called stanozolol.
Rousey also stated on MMA Hour, “Coming into the cage with performance-enhancing drugs is the equivalent of walking in there with a weapon.”
I agree with Rousey that using drugs during a fight is not the right thing to do, but Venancio keeps saying that Rousey is just afraid to fight her.
Venancio told Power 106 in Los Angeles, “Ronda always runs from me.” She also went on to say, “She always says she wants to fight me, but she never wants to make a catch weight so she can meet the challenge and fight.” It would be very interesting to see a fight against these two very powerful women.
On Sept. 24, Venancio has a fight against Lina Lansberg. I am curious to see how long this fight will last in the octagon.
