UFC 198 will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Fabricio Werdum and Stipe Miocic but the undercard that night will be equally as intriguing. The most intriguing part of that undercard will be the UFC debut of Cris "Cyborg" Justino as she will take on Leslie Smith.
Cyborg has made a name for herself with Invicta and still holds the title there, but she decided she couldn't pass up the huge opportunity to fight at a big event like this in the UFC. The talk has always been about Justino taking on Ronda Rousey when she makes it over to the UFC, but that will have to wait.
When Justino's first UFC fight was announced, many people were upset with her first opponent as they felt Dana White and company chose an easy mark to showcase "Cyborg." White has come out and said that Smith was the only one willing to fight Justino though, and that she actually begged for it. Smith has lost three of her last five fights but is coming off a unanimous decision win over Rin Nikai in her most recent fight.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that some fighters didn't want to fight "Cyborg" in her debut considering she has won 15 consecutive fights, 13 of which have come via knockout. Despite the fact that Justino is getting ready for her first fight in the UFC, she is already looking ahead to what comes after her fight with Smith. Justino vs. Rousey has been teased for years now, but "Cyborg" says that after she beats Smith she would like to settle the score with Rousey in New York at their debut event in Madison Square Garden.
The timing of a potential Rousey, Justino fight would make sense considering Rousey plans to make her comeback in November but "Cyborg" says that if Rousey "has thought of a few more excuses to not fight" her she will settle for either Miesha Tate or Holly Holm. Of course a fight between Rousey and Justino wouldn't be for a title, but it is unlikely that either of them care since this would be one of the more anticipated fights in recent memory.
There are weight issues to figure out if a Rousey vs. Justino fight were to happen, though. Rousey fights at 135 pounds while Justino fights at 145 pounds. Justino will go down to 140 for her fight with Smith but she is unlikely to be able to drop to 135 pounds to get to Rousey's weight. White and Rousey have insisted in the past that she stay at 135 pounds but if this super fight becomes a real possibility to headline the debut event in New York it seems likely they will both reconsider.
