Holly Holm? Cat Zingano? Another challenger? UFC champ Cris Cyborg wonders who's next

RIO DE JANEIRO – After a tumultuous start, longtime pound-for-pound force Cris Cyborg finally has a UFC title belt – most importantly, one in her own weight division.

However, she had barely cooled off from her title-winning third-round TKO over Tonya Evinger at UFC 214 before the question was asked once more: What’s next for the world’s most dominant female 145-pound fighter? Or, more specifically, who could be next in a division that’s been surrounded by uncertainty from the start?

Cyborg can’t answer that question yet. What she can answer, though, is what she wants to happen. And, as she’s made clear before, that’s a fight with former 135-pound titleholder – and one of the two original 145-pound title challengers – Holly Holm.

The main reason, Cyborg explains, is pretty simple.

“I think it would be a great fight for the fans,” Justino said during a media day in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. “It’d be an exciting fight. Because Holly Holm is a great striker, and I like to strike. And then for sure somebody’s going to be KO’d.”

Stylistically, she has a point.

While Cyborg’s powerful muay Thai has become her trademark throughout her overwhelmingly victorious career, Holm (11-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC), is a well accomplished boxer in the past. Not only that, Holm has used a smart kickboxing game to pick up a pair of UFC knockouts – including the major title-winning victory over Ronda Rousey.

But when it comes to whether Holm actually deserves a title shot, things get more complicated. After all, while the ex-135-champ is coming off a win, a TKO over Bethe Correia at UFC Fight Night 111, she was on a three-fight losing skid before that. And that includes a failed 145-pound title bid.

Cyborg (18-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) can kind of see why a title fight makes sense.

“When she fought the first time, she already didn’t deserve to fight for the belt,” Cyborg said. “When she fought (Germaine) de Randamie, I don’t think both deserved to fight for the belt. De Randamie hadn’t fought at 145 for a long time. I think last time was at Strikeforce, a long time ago.

“And then Holly, she came off (two) losses in a row to fight for the belt. But I talk about her because I think she’s the biggest girl at 135. And then she fought already at 145. And maybe this fight could happen.”

At the end of the day, in a weight class that at this point holds basically only herself, it’s not like Justino has a lot of options. The women’s featherweight division’s inaugural champion, de Randamie, was even stripped of her title exactly because she refused to face Cyborg after beating Holm at UFC 208.

Invicta FC’s most recent 145-pound champ, Megan Anderson, had to pull out of a scheduled bout with Cyborg due to personal issues that haven’t been disclosed. Evinger herself is a 135-pound fighter, who left Invicta FC’s bantamweight belt behind to take the UFC 214 call on short notice.

While Cyborg is diplomatic, she admits she’s not exactly excited about the lack of options in her division.

“It bothers me,” Cyborg said in her native Portuguese. “I wish the UFC would sign girls in my division. I didn’t want to fight 135-ers. I talk about Holly because she’s one of the bigger ones in the division, and she’s fought at 145 against de Randamie. And I think she could take the fight.

“But I’d like to fight girls in my division. I believe there are many girls. They’re signed under other promotions, but I believe that, if there were more opportunities in the division, I’d think for sure they’d want to migrate. The UFC is a great (promotion) and for sure there’ll be more opportunities.”

While that doesn’t happen, Cyborg says she’s already going into camp to prepare for her next challenge. Other than Holm, she sees possibilities in Anderson (9-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who she believes rankings-wise makes sense – and Cat Zingano (9-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC), who the Brazilian says won’t be medically cleared to fight until 2018.

“Maybe it can be Megan Anderson, but Megan has to fix her problems for the fight to happen,” Cyborg said. “Can be her, too. I’m going to Thailand to focus on training (for a) southpaw and get started on the camp. People say maybe Cat Zingano – Cat Zingano is a southpaw, too.

“So, we started the plan already for both girls. If it changes, we change the game. But we already started camp for that fight.”

Zingano, of course, also originally belongs to the 135-pound division – where she’s had one failed title bid against Rousey. And, as Cyborg has pointed out, she hasn’t won a UFC fight since 2014. But, with the two already at odds on social media, perhaps the very interest she’s shown in meeting Cyborg could end up paying off.

When it comes to her main target, however, Cyborg says the ball is pretty much in Holm’s court. And she believes the former champion may very well be waiting for the 135-pound title rematch between champ Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko – set for Sept. 9 at UFC 215 – to unfold before making her next move.

“I think that maybe makes (our) fight harder to happen, because she’s close to the belt,” Justino said. “Maybe if she wins and fights for the belt, she’s interested in fighting me. I think it will be a cool fight for the fans, but it’s up to her whether she wants to make it happen.”

If the fight does end up coming to fruition, Justino doesn’t seem particularly intimidated by what her possible foe might have to offer.

“I think Holly doesn’t have knockout power,” Justino said. “All her fights, she knocks them out with kicks – not punches. I don’t think she’s very aggressive. I don’t think she’s going to be really dangerous. I think it will be an exciting fight, because I like to fight. And, of course, I’m going to find her. She’s going to run in the ring, but I’m going to find her.”

To hear more from Cyborg on her future, check out the video above.

And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.