As Ronda Rousey continues to dominate the women's bantamweight division, Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino lurks in the background, constantly hanging over her legacy like an immutable cloud of darkness.
Rousey is content to keep her head down in the pouring rain of criticism, refusing to look up at the one threat actually capable of dethroning her. Much has been made about weight as reasoning behind this superfight's delayed existence.
But those arguments are often countered by the fact that Rousey started her professional MMA career as a featherweight. Not to mention, she competed at 154 pounds to win a bronze medal in judo in the 2008 Olympic Games.
Rousey has even teased at taking bouts against former featherweight contender Gina Carano and women's boxing legend Laila Ali, but when it comes to moving up to fight Cyborg, it's typically the same old, same old from the champ. If she isn't calling Cyborg a cheater for failing a drug test over three years ago, she is constantly trying to bait the Invicta featherweight champ into cutting 40 pounds and meeting her at 135 pounds.
The entire ordeal is a head-scratcher for most. When appearing on Fox Sports 1's America's Pregame, Rousey claimed she was "the greatest fighter of all time." If this were true, wouldn't she want to move up in weight and beat Cyborg to create substance for such braggadocios claims?
Not necessarily, according to Joe Rogan.
During The Joe Rogan Experience (NSFW language) podcast show, the UFC commentator admitted he wasn't the least bit surprised by Rousey refusing to move up and take on Cyborg at featherweight:
Do I understand why Ronda would want to fight her at 135? Of course, yeah, it's the smart thing to do. You're going to fight a f-----g wrecking machine. She's big, and she knocks b-----s out. She knocks chicks out in a way that very few fighters knock people out. She puts it on girls. She's scary. Everyone should be scared of her. They all should be scared, especially if you're lighter than her.
Cyborg has finished 11 of her 13 career wins by knockout. After spending nearly two years away from MMA, she returned in February and earned a first-round TKO over Charmaine Tweet in her first Invicta title defense. It was the same carnivorous destruction fans have come to expect from the women's MMA legend.
Meanwhile, Rousey continues to run through top contenders like Usain Bolt in a track meet. Her 14-second armbar victory over Cat Zingano at UFC 184 was the fastest finish ever in a UFC title fight.
Rogan contends that promoting a women's featherweight division in the UFC would increase the chances of Rousey vs. Cyborg. If casual fans knew a fighter like Cyborg existed, there would be increased pressure on both Rousey and the UFC brass to turn this pipe dream fight into a reality.
"Bring 145 over and let her fight in the UFC. People would then be calling for it. Right now, they're not calling for it because they don’t know," said Rogan.
Jordy McElroy is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon and FanRag Sports.
