'Cyborg' Justino to fight at 140 pounds on Invicta FC 15 card headlined by Souza-Grasso

Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino

Cristiane Justino (14-1) will finally move down in weight from her home at 145 pounds, but it won’t be to fight in the UFC against Ronda Rousey.

“Cyborg,” who is the current Invicta FC featherweight champion, will move down to 140 pounds for a catchweight bout at Invicta FC 15 in November. Her opponent has not been determined.

Invicta President Shannon Knapp announced the news at Saturday’s Invicta FC 14 post-fight press conference.

The main event of the card, which does not have an official date and location, according to Knapp, will see Invicta’s 115-pound champion Livia Renata Souza (8-0) put her title on the line against undefeated prospect and rising star Alex Grasso (7-0).

Souza won the strawweight title in April when in her promotional debut she submitted Katja Kankaanpaa with a triangle choke to take the title. The undefeated 25-year-old from Brazil has only competed in the sport for less than three years and already holds a major title.

Grasso could be a threat to Souza’s title, as the 22-year-old is also undefeated and has garnered a lot of attention in her young career. UFC President Dana White has praised Grasso as a fighter to look out for and thus far she has delivered with four career knockouts.

Justino has long discussed a change in weight class in order to compete against the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. The Brazilian has dominated the competition outside the UFC and has not lost since her MMA debut in 2005.

Justino has attempted to convince Rousey to fight at 145 pounds or a catchweight of 140 due to the difficulty of the weight cut, but “Rowdy” has refused to budge on the notion of competing at anything but 135. She did, however, recently state her career would feel “unfinished” without a fight against Justino.

Justino and Rousey are viewed as the only potential threats to the other’s aura of invincibility and it appears Justino will take the first step toward making the matchup a reality when she competes at 140 pounds at Invicta FC 15.

For more on Invicta’s schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.