Cris Cyborg is one of the biggest names in women’s mixed martial arts. Even though she doesn’t hold a belt as of now, her name is still synonymous with dominance inside the Octagon. Not many would have ever thought that a superstar of her stature would have once had to spend her days living in a car.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Justino revealed the details of a rather tumultuous phase of her career back in 2011. She touched on the subject of dogs and said that that a friend, who was like a brother to her, brought her a dog named Fedor.
“Fedor stayed with me at all times. Even at the time I lived in a car after my doping and suspension in 2011. Me and him.”
Ariel was shocked to find out about how a fighter of her stature had to live in a car. “I didn’t know that”, said Helwani.
“It was after my doping when me and my ex split up. I was having a fight and i had rent a room. And I was the Strikeforce champion but I didn’t have the money to rent a place. I didn’t have a place to train because my ex was my coach. Then I found an old friend and he had worked with Wanderlei before. ”
“So I called him up in San Diego and told him that I have a fight. I need to be in shape and I have gotta make weight. I will fight that fight because I was born to do this. I just gotta make weight”, Cyborg added. “And then he said that it’s okay, just come to San Diego.”
Had no idea that in ‘11 Cyborg was forced to live in her car w/ her dog. This was after she was stripped of her Strikeforce title for a PED violation and her marriage fell apart. She hit rock bottom. The dog’s name? Fedor. And he’s still alive and well. pic.twitter.com/0akNIKYL3J
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 26, 2019
“And now i find it funny that i moved to San Diego on Thanksgiving day.” The look of surprise on Ariel’s face told us all about how disbelieved he was. He further asked Justino about how long she had to stay in the car for.
“Maybe one month”, answered Cyborg. She added that she also stayed at some friend’s house meanwhile as well. Among all her troubles, if there was one constant that was her dog. At a point of time she wanted to give the dog to a friend. However, Cyborg and the dog started crying and she decided to not give her away.
The struggles helped Cyborg in the long run by forging a strong personality out of her. Cyborg is now gearing up to fight Felicia Spencer this weekend. The match may serve as a prospective ladder for her title rematch with Amanda Nunes.
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