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UFC’s Giovani Decker: Many fighters declined to fight Cris Cyborg at UFC 198

CURITIBA -- Cris Cyborg will finally make her UFC debut on May 14, but it wasn’t easy for the promotion to find an opponent for the Brazilian.

The current Invicta FC featherweight champion will cut down to 140 pounds for a catchweight bout with Leslie Smith in Curitiba, Brazil, but UFC general manager in Brazil, Giovani Decker, admitted that many fighters were offered the bout and turned it down.

"We didn’t think it would be impossible (to have Cyborg at UFC 198) because we knew someone would accept the fight," Decker told MMAFighting.