Photos courtesy Esther Lin
The time has come for Cristiane Justino to make her Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut this Saturday (May 14, 2016) at UFC 198 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil.
Justino, better known by her moniker "Cyborg," will be putting her Invicta FC Featherweight title run on hold to debut inside of the Octagon at a catchweight of 140 pounds. Her opponent, Bantamweight defector Leslie Smith, will be moving up in weight to test her toughness against the best striker in the history of women’s mixed martial arts (WMMA).
With the spotlight never brighter, "Cyborg" touched the scale today (Fri., May, 13, 2016) as part of the UFC 198 weigh ins. Her cut down to 140 pounds has been closely watched considering she’s been unsuccessful in her attempts to drop down to Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Holly Holm’s 135-pound plateau.
We’ve put together an interesting side-by-side pic to compare the 30-year-old Brazilian's new weight cut to her old one just 24 hours away from her UFC debut (courtesy of Esther Lin).
It has yet to be seen if the extended weight cut will affect "Cyborg" inside of the cage, but you better believe she’s coming out guns blazing in front of 40,000 screaming fans.
Cris Cyborg, welcome to the @ufc‼️#ufc198 https://t.co/aZOkgPNKgU
— Nancy Gay (@nancygay) May 13, 2016
UFC 198 will be headlined by a Heavyweight title fight between current champion Fabricio Werdum and heavy-handed striker Stipe Miocic.