Weight concerns continue to follow Cris 'Cyborg' Justino in UFC return

ByBRETT OKAMOTO
September 23, 2016, 11:40 AM

— -- Cris "Cyborg" Justino, the No. 1 female fighter in the world, posted an online video this week that showed her arguing with renowned nutritionist George Lockhart.

In the video, Justino is shown questioning Lockhart's decision to place her on birth control for the purpose of weight management during her recent camp. The video drew nearly 50,000 views the day it was published.

As Justino (16-1) prepares for her second fight in the UFC, a 140-pound catchweight bout against Lina Lansberg at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Brazil, much (if not all) of the prefight focus is on her weight -- which has been the case for years.

Justino has been a 145-pound champion in multiple promotions, but the UFC does not promote a female weight class above 135. To this point, the highest weight the UFC has been willing to offer Justino is a 140-pound catchweight.

According to UFC officials, Justino weighed in, clothed, at 156 pounds on Tuesday morning. That's over the UFC's recommendation of a check-in weight, which is within 8 percent of contracted weight. The UFC said it's monitoring Justino's health as a result. Lockhart assured ESPN.com via text, "Everything is where it needs to be."

Justino, 31, told ESPN.com the addition of birth control pills made her feel heavier during fight preparations, which has her visibly stressed this week.

"In my last UFC fight, I had a hard time making 140," Justino said. "Then this camp, something different happened. George Lockhart gave me birth control and said it would help me to cut weight. All my camp, I trained really hard. I trained double because I feel my body was different. And then this makes me really nervous. The difference is the birth control."

UFC vice president of health and performance Jeff Novitzky told ESPN.com, "The health and safety of our athletes comes first and foremost, so our team in Brazil will be monitoring the situation closely and staying in constant communication with Cris and her team."

It all begs the question why Justino is fighting at 140 pounds at all. A reasonable answer is the UFC might still hold some desire to book her at 135. For a long time, that was the caveat for a proposed superfight between Justino and former UFC champion Ronda Rousey. The UFC and Rousey repeatedly said that matchup would have to take place at 135 pounds with a title on the line.

Justino, however, has shut down cutting any lower than 140. Money talks, so you can never completely rule out something in this sport -- but within the last year, Justino has taken a pretty concrete stance against ever fighting at 135.

"I already said 135 is off the table," Justino said. "They know I cannot make 135. It's too hard for me, and everybody who saw me when I cut to 140 knows. It's not healthy. I'm not looking to be the champion at 135 -- I just want to make a superfight."

Another potential issue, however, is finding a legitimate opponent to fight Justino at 145 pounds. UFC bantamweight Leslie Smith agreed to fight at 140 pounds for Justino's promotional debut in May, and she weighed in only at 139 pounds.

Lansberg (6-1) told ESPN.com she has fought the majority of her MMA career at 135 pounds and intends to continue at that weight following this weekend. She believes she was pegged as Justino's opponent because she has fought at higher weights previously during an extended Muay Thai career.

"I did expect a call from the UFC sooner or later, but I did not expect Cyborg to be the first fight," Lansberg said. "I think my Muay Thai career is why they wanted me to fight at 140. It's hard for them to find an opponent for her, and somebody with my background, who has had more than 80 Muay Thai fights, I'm a good opponent for her. After this fight, I'll be back at 135."

UFC president Dana White recently said the promotion still has no plans in the near future of adding Justino's 145-pound weight class. Justino provided a similar outlook when asked about that possibility, responding, "I really don't know."

It's a situation the UFC and Justino are hopefully able to resolve, regardless of what happens this weekend. As it stands, booking Justino to non-title, 140-pound catchweight bouts against seemingly inferior opponents isn't taking us anywhere. As nice as it is to simply see her fighting in the UFC, it would be nicer to see her in a narrative that has to do with something other than weight.