Invicta Fighting Championships featherweight champion Cris "Cyborg" Justino plans to make her 135-pound debut in December, according to her lawyer George Prajin.
Justino (12-1) has long said she would cut to bantamweight by the end of this year, but originally claimed she would fight one more time at featherweight. She has not competed in mixed martial arts since July 2013.
On Thursday, Invicta FC announced a live event on Sept. 6 in Kansas City, Mo. Justino was expected to fight on that card, but decided that doing so might compromise her ability to make 135 pounds by December.
Justino is committed to making the weight to book a potential fight against UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in early 2015.
"We anticipated fighting three times this year in MMA and now she hasn't fought in almost a year," Prajin said. "We really had to think about it. If she fought in September, it was going to be hard to get down to 135 by December.
"If we're going to do this, we need to do it now. We don't know how long Ronda is going to be in the sport. She might pack up tomorrow and go do movies. Cris wants this fight. She doesn't want to miss the opportunity."
Prajin said the team has enlisted "weight cutting guru" Tony Aponte to help Justino make 135 pounds. The Brazilian currently struggles to make 145 pounds.
According to Prajin, Justino is walking "a little heavy" right now, due to not having a fight booked. She competed in a professional muay Thai bout in March, which she lost via unanimous decision to Jorina Baars.
"She was doing really well and then with the unknown of when she was going to fight, she kind of slacked off a little bit. We hired Tony Aponte, who has helped people cut weight for a long time."
Justino is planning a multi-week trip to Thailand in the coming month to train her muay Thai skills. Invicta FC has not yet announced a December card, but Prajin said that timetable is fairly reliable.
"That's pretty solid," Prajin said. "I don't know the exact date but we're assuming Ronda will be fighting around that time. Cris will fight on Fight Pass one or two weeks prior."