Cyborg vs. Anderson for 145 title at UFC 214; de Randamie stripped

The UFC has confirmed Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino and Megan Anderson will fight for the recently vacated women’s featherweight championship at UFC 214 after champion Germaine de Randamie was stripped of her title.

De Randamie, who won the inaugural 145-pound champ with a narrow decision over Holly Holm in February, refused to agree to fight top-ranked Justino. The UFC responded Monday morning by officially stripping her of the belt and setting up a new title bout as the co-main event July 29 at Honda Center.

Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com was first to report the Cyborg vs. Anderson fight was happening, though the UFC did not confirm it until Monday morning.

It is the second title fight scheduled for UFC 214, which will feature the light heavyweight championship rematch between champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones.

Justino (17-1, 1 NC), regarded as one of the greatest and fiercest women’s fighters of all time, hasn’t fought since knocking out Lina Lansberg in September. She has not lost since her pro debut in 2005, and she has finished every opponent since 2008.

Justino vacated her Invicta FC title in March to further pursue her UFC career, two months after Anderson (8-2) became Invicta’s interim featherweight champion with a knockout victory over Charmaine Tweet in January.

At 6 feet tall, Anderson, 27, has burst onto the MMA scene with four consecutive TKOs in a span of 17 months over the likes of Amber Leibrock, Amanda Bell, Peggy Morgan and Tweet. The 27-year-old Australian, who fights out of Kansas City, Missouri, was later named Invicta’s undisputed champion. She was recently released from her Invicta FC contract in order to sign with the UFC and fight for the featherweight strap.

Justino is seeking her third major title and the biggest and most elusive prize in her storied and somewhat controversial career.

She won the inaugural Strikeforce 145-pound championship nearly eight years ago with a TKO of Gina Carano. After two successful title defenses, a third was overturned in late 2011 after Justino tested positive for stanozolol. She was stripped of the title and suspended a year.

The Brazilian phenom returned with a TKO win in 2013 and, three months later, won the inaugural Invicta crown with a TKO of Marloes Coenen. She made three successful title defenses — all by knockout — before vacating the title three months ago.

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Justino, 31, has fought twice under the UFC banner — both TKO victories last year in Brazil at a catchweight of 140 pounds.

Justino had a second positive drug test in December and was provisionally suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. After her team informed the UFC and USADA the substance — spironolactone, which is a banned diuretic — had been prescribed to help her recover from a difficult weight cut in September, she was granted a retroactive therapeutic use exemption. Her suspension was lifted and she was eligible to fight again.

The UFC announced the championship fight in a statement in which it also explained why de Randamie was being stripped of her title without making a single defense.

“UFC has informed Germaine de Randamie and her management team that she is being removed as the women’s featherweight champion due to her unwillingness to fight the No. 1 ranked contender, Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino,” the statement said. “UFC maintains that any champion is expected to accept fights against the top contenders in their respective weight classes in order to maintain the integrity of the sport.”

The decision took de Randamie by surprise, according to a report Monday morning from Helwani.

“I had absolutely no idea that I was being stripped of the belt,” de Randamie told MMAFighting.com. “I found out through social media. Cyborg (Justino) is going to fight Megan (Anderson) for the belt.

“Nobody ever told me anything about it.”

De Randamie’s manager has cited Justino’s positive tests and long-standing rumors linking her to performance-enhancing drugs as the reasons de Randamie refused to defend her title against Justino.

The 33-year-old Dutch kickboxer became the UFC’s first 145-pound champion with a controversial unanimous decision over Holm at UFC 208 in Brooklyn. Not only was the fight — which was scored 48-47 by all three judges — seen by many as a narrow Holm victory, but de Randamie twice rocked Holm with punches after the horn had sounded. Neither time did the referee deduct points from de Randamie, who said the punches were unintentional.