UFC president Dana White revealed that Cris Cyborg turned down two opportunities to fight for the inaugural UFC featherweight championship, but the Brazilian had a pretty good reason for it.
After scoring a pair of impressive knockouts in catchweight bouts, Cyborg told the promotion she wouldn’t cut down to 140 pounds anymore, and the UFC decided to create the featherweight belt for the current Invicta FC champion. However, according to White, the Brazilian turned down fights against Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie.
“What’s crazy about that is this: I offered Cris Cyborg a title fight at 145 pounds a month ago,” White told UFC Unfiltered podcast.