UFC president Dana White ups the ante on the potential superfight between Ronda Rousey and Cris ‘Cyborg’ – if ‘Rowdy’ can get past Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December.
Last week the promotion announced the return of Ronda and offered her an immediate title shot against current bantamweight champion Nunes, which goes down on Friday 30th December at UFC 207 in Las Vegas. However, the speculation is running rife that right round the corner is the fight the entire MMA community has been salivating over for years: Rousey vs. Cyborg.
White too admits he’s excited at the proposition of the two biggest female fighters in MMA colliding, and explained to FOX Sports how the ground work is being done for what could potentially be one of the biggest fights in UFC history.
“The reality is this — Cris Cyborg is devastatingly good,” said White. “She’s been destroying everybody right now. Her popularity is actually starting to go (up). She’s getting bigger. Everybody wants it right here, right now. It doesn’t happen that way.”
White says Rousey needs to return to form, win her fight against Nunes and then everything would be set up for the Cyborg fight.
“I promise you this, Ronda has to come in and fight December 30th,” said White. “Ronda has to win and the girl that she’s fighting is no pushover. She’s nasty and tough and Ronda’s got a fight on her hands there. She wins that fight, her and Cris Cyborg are eventually going to fight. Ronda wants that fight. This thing’s gotta play out first and we’ll see what happens.”
There could be many superlatives used to describe what a potential Rousey vs. Cyborg would mean to the UFC, but White opted to use one of Conor McGregor’s catch phrases instead.
“That’s the money fight,” White added. “This is what Conor called ‘red panty night.’ When you get the fights with Conor and Ronda, you break out the red panties, honey. It’s a big fight.”
White did not confirm what weight class any potential Rousey-Cyborg match-up would be at, with the Brazilian currently campaigning at 145lb and Rousey remaining at 135lb.
