Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino has never been known for taking prisoners in the cage. She's now getting more aggressive outside the chain link too, all presumably in the name of locking up the epic meeting she craves with Ronda Rousey.
Cyborg is trading shots online with Rousey's coaches and even her mother, defending herself from ongoing claims that she is overrated or using performance-enhancing substances.
Though Rousey has yet to publicly respond, she has demonstrated before that she isn't exactly passive when it comes to broadsides against her inner circle.
Rousey's mother, AnnMaria De Mars, exchanged heated tweets with Cyborg on Tuesday, with De Mars issuing a taunt about Cyborg's ongoing struggle to make the 135-pound bantamweight limit. Rousey has heretofore insisted Cyborg must reach that weight threshold in order for them to fight. Cyborg has traditionally competed in the 145-pound featherweight division.
@criscyborg @MMARoasted @RondaRousey I'll give you a number - 135
— DrAnnMaria (@DrAnnMaria) March 2, 2015
Cute Ms. @DrAnnMaria your motherly instincts to protect your lil cub @RondaRousey is kicking in, it's natural but The lion is coming. @ufc
— Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) March 4, 2015
And it doesn't end there. Monday on The MMA Hour broadcast, jiu-jitsu celebrity and Rousey coach Rener Gracie said people were giving Cyborg too much credit. Cyborg responded to that with words posted through her account to The Underground, MMA's venerable discussion board.
"I am not surprised you say bad things about me," the post read in part. "Your athlete used the same technique to grow her name. ... Nobody made my name but me. I have no grandfather name to live off of. Go promote your online students while I earn my credit fighting, and ask the real Gracies what respect means."
Wow.
To cap it off, Cyborg and her team have also responded to Rousey's latest allegations that Cyborg is continuing to use PEDs. In 2011, Cyborg tested positive for steroids and was suspended but has maintained ever since that she is now clean. However, Rousey and other skeptics continue to claim she is using PEDs.
On Tuesday, Cyborg's manager, George Prajin, called Rousey's allegations "reckless," according to a report from ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto.
"The one thing I do want to say on record is that the accusations of her being on steroids -- come on, it's old," Prajin said in the report. "In the last three years, she's probably had 10 tests."
Before her fight Friday against Charmaine Tweet at Invicta 11, Cyborg reportedly received and passed three separate drug tests. She won the fight by knockout in 46 seconds.
One day later, not to be outdone, Rousey destroyed Cat Zingano by armbar in only 14 seconds in the main event of UFC 184.
