Cyborg wants it. Anderson wants it. They’ve even mocked up a fight poster and distributed it to the masses via the World Wide Web.
Yet, despite this, despite saying and doing all the right things, a potential women’s featherweight bout between Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino and Megan Anderson is still to be confirmed for July or any other time this year.
Wheels in motion, you’d imagine it’s only a matter of time; there’s talk of a July 29 date and talk of an interim featherweight title being up for grabs; it’s a test Anderson, the Invicta FC featherweight champion, has wanted for a while.
“I’m a very rangy fighter so (against Cyborg) I will stay at range and once I see my opponent folding… some people break mentally first, some people break physically,” Anderson told Fighters Only Editor Michael Owens in January, two weeks after she had defeated Charmaine Tweet to win Invicta gold.
“Charmaine is a very tough girl. I had to break her down physically because she’s not going to break mentally. She’s been around a very long time, she’s tough, she’s fought a lot of people so she has that experience.
“Cyborg is different. I’m definitely going to have to pick and choose my shots, not get overcommitted and be aware that she’s going to try and rush in. I’m going to create my angles and counter her as she’s coming in.”
The 27-year-old Australian speaks with a steely determination that is presumably a by-product of paying her dues in Invicta and on smaller promotions. Long considered one of the standout featherweights in the world, the rangy six-footer appears to be chomping at the bit to confound the doubters.
“A lot of people are saying I’m not close to the level that Holly (Holm) and Germaine (de Randamie) are at and I’m out to prove those people wrong now,” said Megan. “I’ve had a lot of people say I’m on steroids, I look like a man, I don’t have any skill, I don’t deserve to call out Holly or Germaine, I’m a coward – it’s really weird.
“I’m happy to stay in the Invicta if that’s what has to happen, but I would love the opportunity to go to the UFC and test my skills at the top level and get the exposure and recognition that a lot of us featherweights should have had a long time ago. Of course I would jump at an opportunity like that. But it all depends on what Invicta want to do and what the UFC want to do. I’m sure we’ll be getting approached soon enough.”
If that is indeed the case, expect Anderson to fit right in. She’s unbeaten since September 2015 and has won her last four fights, each of them by knockout. Better yet, she possesses the kind of all-action style that should compliment any one of the fighters lurking around the division’s summit.
“It’s my mental toughness,” she said. “I get hit, I keep walking forward. I just have that mentality that I don’t stop, I don’t get tired. I don’t think about if I’m hurting. My nose was bleeding in my last fight and I didn’t care really. I’m just tough and I’m here to do a job and I’ll do everything I can to get that job done.”
