Former Strikeforce featherweight champion Cristiane Justino is expected to make her bantamweight debut for Invicta Fighting Championship (Invicta FC), the all-female mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion where she currently rules the 145-pound roost, at the Invicta 10 Fight Pass event in December.
"Everything seems to be on schedule," Knapp told Sherdog.com. "She is pumped up and ready; she is making her way. She wants that fight with Ronda. She is putting in the hard work, the time and the effort to get that fight. I think she's very focused on getting to where she needs to be and where she needs to go to have that matchup."
Justino is then expected to make a second appearance at 135 pounds -- also for Invicta -- next spring.
That gives her plenty of time to get acclimated with the cut, something that has hindered her from a Ronda Rousey "super fight" under the UFC banner. Then again, with former pro boxer Holly Holm entering the fold (more on that here), there's no telling what the women's bantamweight landscape will look like in 2015.
Especially if this happens, though Knapp insists Cyborg vs. Rousey "is the biggest female fight there is out there and will be out there for years to come."