It wouldn’t be right to say the UFC waited too long to bring Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino into the promotion proper. Justino is still a few months away from her 31st birthday and has yet to hit her 20th pro MMA bout (and aside from a kickboxing bout in 2014, she’s taken very little damage in her career). With both bantamweight and featherweight lacking in top-end elite talent, it’s not unreasonable to think that Justino has at least three more years as a dominant fighter.
If Dana White’s to be believed, Justino was next in line to fight Ronda Rousey had the latter beaten Holly Holm at UFC 193 (and Justino had proven she could make 135 pounds).