The much rumored bout between Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson is on. The UFC announced Monday that the two fighters had been signed to square off, putting to rest weeks of rumors regarding the blockbuster pairing. The fight will take place at July’s UFC 214 in Anaheim, CA.
On the line will be the UFC women’s featherweight championship. The promotion stated in Monday’s press release that Germaine de Randamie had been stripped of the title, as a result of her unwillingness to face Justino.
“UFC has informed Germaine de Randamie and her management team that she is being removed as the women’s featherweight champion due to her unwillingness to fight the No. 1 ranked contender, Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino. Subsequently, top contender Justino will face newly signed Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson for the UFC women’s featherweight title in the co-main event of UFC 214” the promotion stated.
de Randamie won the belt in controversial fashion at UFC 208 in January, twice being warned for hitting opponent Holly Holm after the belt. Previously, she released a statement saying she was not interested in fighting Cyborg due to the Brazilian’s history with performance enhancing drugs, and was focused on heading back to bantamweight.
The UFC added that it “maintains that any champion is expected to accept fights against the top contenders in their respective weight classes in order to maintain the integrity of the sport.”
For her part, Germaine de Randamie stated that “nobody ever told me anything about it” in a statement to MMA Fighting.
Anderson, who had been Invicta FC’s interim champion, was recently awarded the promotion’s undisputed title, as Cyborg dropped her own Invicta FC featherweight belt to focus on the UFC. Anderson had previously been announced as headlining Invicta FC 24, although it appears the promotion will be making other plans.
Justino (17-1, 1 NC) is 2-0 in the UFC, with both fights coming at 140lb catchweights. She has long been the face of the 145lb division, and is a former Strikeforce champion. Australia’s Anderson (8-2) is currently on a four fight win streak. Cyborg will represent her toughest test to date. In her last fight, Anderson finished Charmaine Tweet by TKO at Invicta FC 21 in January.
UFC 214 takes place July 29 in Anaheim, California at the Honda Center. The main event featured light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier meeting Jon Jones for the second time.
