Cris Cyborg might be allowed extra pound after all (updated)
BRASILIA, Brazil -- Making weight is no easy task for Cris Cyborg, and she made it look even harder after tweeting to Brian Stann that she wouldn’t be allowed to have an extra pound on Friday morning.
The demand would mean that Cyborg would have to make 140 pounds for her catchweight bout with Lina Lansberg at UFC Fight Night 95 in Brasilia, Brazil. However, it turns out that she might have an extra pound after all.
During a pre-fight media day in Brasilia, Cyborg told the press that she wasn’t actually told by the UFC if she could or couldn’t come at 141 pounds.
"I don’t know, we haven’t received any message saying that we could (weigh in at 141). Nobody told us before," Cyborg said. "We’re waiting. If we have it, it will be welcome. Lina said in an interview that she’d fight me at 145, that she wouldn’t have any problem with that."
On Thursday night, MMA Fighting spoke with Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission official Cristiano Sampaio, who explained that they would consider 141 pounds as making weight unless something in her contract specifically said she wouldn’t have that tolerance.
"Maybe that’s in her contract," Sampaio said. "Since it’s a catchweight you can set that up previously. The (CABMMA) rule states that a non-title fight in a regular division has that tolerance. It’s not her case (since it’s a catchweight). For us, 141 pounds is valid until we’re told by the UFC that there’s such clause. In Curitiba (at UFC 198), there was a tolerance."
CABMMA hasn’t reached out to the UFC about this situation because it doesn’t change the scenario for them, he explained. They will only deal with the situation on Friday morning, right before the official weigh-in.
MMA Fighting spoke with UFC Brazil general manager Giovani Decker on Thursday afternoon about Cyborg’s situation, and he said he’s not aware of the situation.
Update: On Thursday afternoon, Cris Cyborg tweeted that the fight will be official if she's at 141 pounds by Friday morning.
Confirmed! I only have to make 141 this time! #GodIsGood #UFCBrasilia Saturday @FS1 @ufc @canalCombate
— #ufcbrasilia (@criscyborg) 22 de setembro de 2016