Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino is almost everything the UFC could want from a superstar. She’s dominant to the point of absurdity, her fights are extremely entertaining and she’s the 145-pound featherweight champion of Invicta FC — the best female fight promotion outside the UFC.
But she’s not perfect. She doesn’t have the gift of gab to cut great promos like Conor McGregor, she normally fights 10 pounds above the UFC’s top female division (for 135-pound bantamweights), and she’s run out of suitable opponents.
The last of those problems is going to be on full display when Jus🔯tino headlines the UFC Fight Night card on Saturday night. Fighting in her native Brazil, Justino will take on UFC debutante Lina Lansberg, a 34-year-old muay thai fighter with a 6-1 record in MMA. As in her UFC debut, Justino is fighting Lansberg at a cat꧙chweight of 140 pounds.
In theory, Lansberg’s stand-up skills, particularly her inside elbows, could provide a challenge for Justino, whose biggest weakness is striking. The reality of the situation, however, is much different.
Justino has consistently improved her striking skills since she started her rise through the Invicta ranks in 2013. They reached a whole other level after she started training with Jason Parillo, a legendary MMA boxing coach who molded Michael Bisping from a tough-talking “Ultimate Fighter” winner into a UFC middleweight champion.
Parillo has had arguably even more success training Justino. Once a plodding fighter when on her feet, Justino now comfortably bounces around the Octagon in a stance that is halfway between a boxer’s and a muay thai fighter’s. The value of the stance is more than just about Justino’s comfort, however. It provides a base for her to unleash devastating punches and kicks.
Justino’s destructive powers were on full display in her UFC debut in May when she took on journeywoman Leslie Smith. Immediately taking the center of the ring, Justino dictated the pace of the fight, but she did not shoot in and overpower Smith as she might have done in the past. Justino stayed on the outside, found her range and rhythm behind her jab, and unleashed a brutal series of hooks that knocked Smith out.
The fight lasted all of 80 seconds. There is no reason to believe that Saturday’s fight will be any different, which is why Vegas oddsmakers have made Justino a -1200 favorite, exactly the same line they set for her bout against Smith.
The most difficult part of Justino’s assignment happened Friday morning when she successfully made weight. It was no easy feat for Justino, who is literally a giant in the world of women’s MMA. Walking around at 170 pounds, Justino is physically larger and stronger than anyone she’s ever fought, but her size and strength make her weight cut particularly brutal — a fact highlighted in a documentary about her fight with Smith.
In the documentary, Justino was left in tears of pain from her weight cut. It wasꦿ thought she would have an even harder time making weight Friday after she she was 165 pounds on Monday. Though cutting weight is common in༒ combat sports, losing 25 pounds in a week is borderline dangerous.
“She’s cutting [nearly] 20 percent of her body weight — that’s an unprecedented amount of weight,” Dr. Edmund Ayoub, vice president of the Association of Ringside Physicians (ARP), . “She’d need weeks to recover from that, in order to rehydrate from that type of weight cut. Not hours — weeks. So it’s very dangerous.”
Dangerous or not, Justino made weight, and she’ll have plenty of time to rehydrate after she makes short work of Lansberg on Saturday night.
A few more things to look out for at UFC Fight Night:
- Roy Nelson and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva are top-15 heavyweights. They also have knockout power. Expect fireworks and a quick finish from this one.
- Renan Barao used to be one of the best bantamweights in the world, but he’s lost three of his past four fights. Now fighting as a featherweight, Barao needs an impressive win against relative newcomer Phillipe Nover to reinvigorate his once-promising career.
- Francisco Trinaldo and Paul Felder aren’t lightweight title contenders, but on a card packed full of mismatches, this one is too close to call. Keep an eye on Trinaldo’s hands — he has unusual power for a 155-pounder.