excerpt from an interview today:
Rousey never has been shy with her thoughts about “Cyborg” in the past, and with an uncensored forum on Stern’s show, she had perhaps her most biting comments yet about the Brazilian – whom Rousey insists drop to bantamweight if she’s to fight her, despite “Cyborg” continuing to hint at a catchweight bout at 140 pounds.
Justino has a positive steroids test on her resume, and she was stripped of her Strikeforce title in 2011 because of it. And Rousey today insisted “Cyborg” always has been a performance-enhancing drugs user, and that’s the reason she’ll have a tough time getting to 135 pounds for a fight against the UFC champ.
“She’s very obviously been abusing performance-enhancing drugs for a long time, to the point her jawline, her hands and feet, everything is just morphed by what she’s done to her body. I use the term ‘her’ lightly,” Rousey told Stern.
When the longtime shock-jock suggested Rousey could probably let Justino fight at 145 pounds, and still beat her even if Rousey stayed at 135, Rousey agreed.
But she said the message that would give off is the wrong one.
“I have to think about what sends the right message,” she said. “I’m not going to do backflips for a cheating con artist. And to be honest, if you can make 145 juiced the f-ck up on steroids, you can get off of them and move down. This chick, her whole life, has had advantages that she didn’t earn.
“Of course I would (win at 135, even if she was 145). Would I do that? No. She’d have to make 135 just like everybody else, and would have to be clean just like everybody else. There’s no reason she should get a special set of rules just because she cheated for a long time and got a reputation.”
Earlier this year, it was reported that Justino actually is under contract with the UFC, despite fighting for Invicta (which has its events stream on UFC Fight Pass) since the UFC doesn’t have a women’s featherweight division home for her.
And UFC President Dana White has said Justino will soon be making an attempt to drop to bantamweight so that fight with Rousey – certain to be the biggest women’s fight in history – can happen.
But Rousey today claimed when the UFC delivered its plans for year-round random drug testing for all its athletes, expected to start in July, Justino had a change of heart.
“She was in the UFC and was in talks about going to ’35 and everything,” Rousey said. “… Then they announced out-of-competition drug testing in the UFC, and 24 hours later, she asked to be released.”
Justino next is scheduled to fight Faith Van Duin at Invicta FC 13 on July 10 in Las Vegas, the night before the UFC’s blockbuster UFC 189 card – and part of the promotion’s “International Fight Week.”
After that title defense, it might be now or never if she’s going to attempt the bantamweight drop – though Rousey put a different timeline on it.
“How long of a buildup was there for (the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao) fight? Five years. It was five years,” Rousey said. “Me and ‘Cyborg,’ this talk has been happening for about three years. She’s got two more years to really step up, get herself in the UFC and fight me just like everyone else does, or I’m going to get on with my life.”
But if the fight does happen, Rousey said she believes Justino knows she could be in for a world of hurt against her. Rousey has dispatched her most recent two opponents in 16 seconds and 14 seconds, the latter breaking her own UFC title fight record.
Rousey took aim at Justino’s skills in the cage, and referenced Justino’s loss to Jorina Baars at Lion Fight 14 in a kickboxing match.
“She wants enough money that she could take a loss for it,” Rousey said. “She’s one of those people that it’s all just ‘roids and muscle and no technique. No anything. She just had a muay Thai fight and got dropped six times – she has no chin at all. … Her technique just sucks, and she just manhandles her way out of it.”
