Cyborg Talks About Perception Problems

Current Invicta Fighting Championships Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino has been cleared by USADA for any wrong doings after a potential failed drug test in 2016.

Cyborg has been dealing with accusations of illegal substance usage for a long time now, but she feels that perception doesn’t always equal reality.

“People judge before,” Cyborg said on The MMA Hour. “The problem is that some media, they don’t know what’s going on. And a guy like Joe Rogan, who has six million followers [on Twitter], and these guys say I cheated and that I’m going to be banned for life, and then people believe that. People don’t wait to see the results, they judge. I was really stressed about everything, because I did a mistake one time in my life, and then I learned a lot of things about this mistake. And the one thing I learned the first time, just some people stay with you. This time, same thing. These are the people I really trust, who stay with me, and I appreciate everyone.”

The Invicta FC champion has already earned two wins under the UFC banner, defeating both Leslie Smith and Lina Lansberg. The Brazilian star also feels that a lot of the issues arose after her rivalry with former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey began.

“Ronda before, she speaked so much about me, and she tried to ruin my name and speak a lot of things,” Cyborg said. “And I think five years she was doing this, because she wanted to avoid fighting me. And she tried make bad my name and that there was no need to fight me. But everybody can now see the reality. She lost her two fights, and didn’t come back until after one year after the loss to Holly Holm. Obviously I’m going to have haters. Man, I got to say I love my haters because they challenge myself…it challenges me. It challenges me to be better. It challenges me to show who I am, and that I deserve to be who I am.”

Due to the USADA ruling, Cyborg is now free to compete whenever she wants.