'Ronda doesn't want to face Cris because she knows she's going to lose', says Tito Ortiz

Ortiz (right) was once Cyborg's (left) manager. Photo: Diego Maka/MMA Brazil

This Tuesday (01), the UFC champion Ronda Rousey surprised everyone by saying that her career would be “incomplete” if she retired without facing the Brazilian Chris Cyborg. However, in the opinion of the former UFC champion Tito Ortiz, Cyborg's friend and former manager, Ronda has only been paying lip service to this, as she knows she wouldn't stand a chance against the former Chute Boxe athlete.

See too

Young soldier invites Ronda to dance and fighter accepts

Website reveals that Fedor signed a contract with the UFC

Minotauro announces retirement and takes up position at UFC Brasil

Technique, overcoming and determination: the trajectory of Minotauro

UFC champions pay tribute to Minotauro: 'Thank you'

“Cyborg already said she would move down to bantamweight and accepted everything Ronda demanded for this fight to happen, but Ronda is making up all kinds of excuses. First, she said that Cris had to drop in weight, but when Cyborg agreed, Ronda said: 'But I just want to face her in the last fight of my career'. In other words, she's just looking for excuses. Ronda doesn’t want to face Cris because she knows she’s going to lose,” said Ortiz, in an interview with the channel’s “Combat” website.

Despite the criticism, however, Ortiz recognized that Ronda is alongside Cyborg, on a level isolated from other female MMA athletes today. “Cris is the best fighter on this planet. I don't care what everyone says, yes, Ronda is great, yes, she is the best bantamweight fighter today, but she has never faced someone like Cris. All the fights Ronda has ever had in her life were against girls. She needs to face a woman like Cris, because she is also a woman, not a girl. Ronda and Cris are two women who are clearly the best in their respective categories,” she said.

Finally, Ortiz compared the duel between the rivals to the “Fight of the Century” in boxing between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. “I hope this fight happens one day. Me and everyone else (laughs). I think it's a fight of the magnitude of Manny Pacquião and Floyd Mayweather for women's MMA, with the difference that this will be a real fight, with more action. No one is going to go in there to touch gloves and win on points. Cris will go in there to try to kill Ronda. She doesn’t care about titles, she just wants to beat Ronda and shut her up,” she concluded.

[vox id=”28615″]