Jul 5, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Ronda Rousey (red gloves) takes down Alexis Davis (blue gloves) during the first round of a bantamweight fight at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Jul 5, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Ronda Rousey (red gloves) takes down Alexis Davis (blue gloves) during the first round of a bantamweight fight at Mandalay Bay Events Center. Reuters

They do not call her "Cyborg" for nothing. The unofficial women's number two pound for pound mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, Cris Justino is hoping to forego surgery on her left ankle which has been diagnosed to be ailing from a torn anterior talofibular ligament.

Her manager, George Prajin relayed that her ward succumbed to the injury months ago but was unaware of how grave the situation was until much later. The 29-year old was forced to withdraw from her supposed fight in December at Invicta FC 10 due to the ailment. She was training to move down to 135 lbs. from 145 targeting the potential fight with Ronda Rousey as her main goal. The injury all but derails her chances.

According to ESPN, several of her doctors have already suggested surgery which will necessitate six weeks to recover and an inordinate amount of time for rehabbing. Justino is considering all alternatives to avoid the long layoff including working with Ivan Carmosino who specializes in therapy out of Curitiba, Brazil. If Justino can wholly avoid going under the knife, she can fight again in January and be on-track for a summer showdown with the UFC's reigning queen.

"The UFC bumped Rousey-Zingano to the end of February that means Ronda won't fight again until maybe late summer." Prajin revealed to ESPN. "So, if [Justino] fights at 145 pounds in January, we're really not throwing a wrench into everything."

All moves by Justino's camp appear to be in consideration of Rousey as Prajin revealed that her ward was willing to fight on one leg in December just to prove that she could go down to 135. They are all scrambling for time given that Rousey has begun a career in Hollywood and could soon follow the footsteps of Gina Carano, robbing their striker of the chance to prove once and for all who the best fighter in the women's class is.

Prajin also added that the other major reason to delay surgery is the effect of the layoff to Justino's walking weight. Justino's manager bared that his ward's weight may go up to as high as 180 if she will not train for six weeks or more, making it doubly hard to make the 135 weight class a reality.