#2: Where does Women’s Featherweight go from here?
The idea behind introducing the Women’s Featherweight (145lbs) division seemed like a sensible one when it was first discussed – the idea clearly being to get a title on Cris Cyborg, who seems to be a surprisingly good drawing card, and then have her defend against challenger-of-the-month types and squash them.
When Cyborg ruled herself out and Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie was made for the inaugural title, the plan really remained the same – the winner would fight and lose to Cyborg and we’d be back to the original idea.
Then USADA happened and who knows what’s going on with Cyborg now? Dana White has been saying all weekend that she may be able to apply for a retrospective TUE and get off scot free, but then he said similar things about Jon Jones and he still got slapped by a one-year suspension.
And who knows what kind of nosedive Cyborg’s popularity might take if she ends up with the stench of another positive PED test hanging over her?
If Cyborg can’t be booked for a substantial amount of time then the division is in trouble. The Holm/de Randamie fight was not exactly an entertaining one and while things could’ve been salvaged had Holm won, the UFC now has another largely unmarketable champion in GDR who is also seen as somewhat of a dirty fighter following her after-the-buzzer shots this weekend.
And as for the next challenger, if it isn’t Cyborg? It’s another question mark.
The UFC could bring in the fighters from Invicta’s 145lbs division and maybe give the next title shot to their champion, Megan Anderson. But Anderson realistically is still very inexperienced and the division in general isn’t exactly stacked.
They could ask a larger 135lber like Cat Zingano to step up and challenge, but by doing that they water down an already-thin 135lbs division. Basically without Cyborg the division is in deep trouble, and with her future up in the air right now then I think it’s safe to say the division is a question mark going forward.
