Cris Cyborg has a big hurdle to clear if she wants to fight Ronda Rousey

Cris Cyborg

The other day I said that Ronda Rousey vs Cris Cyborg will happen at 135lb in 2013. The bottom line is Cris has no leverage and therefore no choice. Her recent whining about not wanting to drop to 135 is mostly BS. And Ronda and her manager Darin Harvey are interpreting it that way. A couple of months ago she said her contract states she can only fight at 145. There is nothing like that in any fighter contract. On Saturday she threatened to leave Strikeforce and fight elsewhere. The more likely scenario is that if she won't accept the fight at 135, she will do nothing under Zuffa contract. They won't release her and no promoter will hire her while she is under contract. Now she claims that her doctor won't let her drop to 135 for health reasons. Keep in mind she tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. She claimed it was an accident but there were suspicions about her steroid use before she came to the US. She was twice scheduled to fight for EliteXC in early 2008 and both times cancelled due to "visa problems". Sometimes that excuse is used to cover up other issues. It was already a rumour that she was juicing. When a fighter is using stanozolol, it's only detectable by urine test within ten days. So it's not difficult to beat those tests. But if the fighter messes up the cycle, that's when the fighter gets caught. This came to my mind on Monday when Darin Harvey was interviewed by Ariel Helwani. Harvey said the first thing he wants is hair follicle testing for drugs because it will detect steroids for a much longer time period. He says he will pay for the test. After that, he wants regular random testing. If Cyborg is clean, then he will talk to Strikeforce about the fight. If the test comes back positive, there will be no fight. For all we know, she could still be using that stuff. It's not difficult to avoid detection by standard urine test. Hair follicle testing is much more comprehensive. It's a big hurdle to clear. I think Ronda and Harvey suspect Cris is still juicing. If they get their way, we will find out. If Cris Cyborg refuses hair follicle testing, there will be no fight.