UFC Quick Quote: Cris ‘Cyborg' Santos requests release from UFC contract

"Right now we're waiting for UFC to release her [Santos], we asked for them to release her so Dana [White] actually talked to me yesterday, they gave her an offer, I went to ‘Cyborg,' she said she didn't want to do it and we just asked for a release. So, since they're not having a 145-pound weight class, what else are they going to do? So as of now she's going to be released and maybe we'll go looking somewhere else and you'll see ‘Cyborg' crush some other women's faces."

-- The chances of seeing the most sought-after women's fight in mixed martial arts (MMA) history continue to diminish as former Strikeforce women's featherweight champion Cristiane Santos (10-1, 1 NC) has request a release from her Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contract, negating essentially any chance of seeing "Cyborg" challenge Ronda Rousey (6-0) for the women's bantamweight championship. Santos' manager, Tito Ortiz, was a guest on Friday's (Feb. 8, 2013) edition of "Inside MMA" on AXS TV and informed hosts Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten that his client recently denied some sort of offer from the UFC and followed up by requesting a release from the organization. It was only last month when Ortiz said, "let's do it" to idea of Santos vs. Rousey, asking for a few warm-up fights first. Now "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" says the Brazilian is unable to make the 135-pound weight limit needed to compete under the UFC banner, the same issue the 27-year-old has been struggling with for months. The UFC only employs the bantamweight division for female fighters, which essentially means "Cyborg" has to go elsewhere to compete if she can't make the weight. Santos was recently offered the services of famed dietician Mike Dolce; however, it appears that relationship never came to fruition. Ortiz has repeatedly cited health concerns as the reason his client could not make 135-pounds, which if true, is legitimate, as the health of the athletes is what's most important. It's just a shame the grudge match between Rousey and Santos will never happen because it's a fight that could take women's mixed martial arts to the next level.