Feb 22, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Ronda Rousey reacts after defeating Sara McMann (not pictured) in their UFC bantamweight championship bout at Mandalay Bay.
Feb 22, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Ronda Rousey reacts after defeating Sara McMann (not pictured) in their UFC bantamweight championship bout at Mandalay Bay. REUTERS

The long awaited Ronda Rousey and Cris "Cyborg" Justino fight seems so near yet so far again. The match that is seen by pundits to be equivalent to a Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao boxing match is in danger of not seeing the light of day after Justino succumbs to a serious ankle injury.

The controversial mixed martial arts striker is held out of the slate for Invicta FC 10, which is scheduled to happen Dec. 5 in Houston, Texas. According to Bloody Elbow, company head honcho Shannon Knapp announced that Justino is forced out of her bantamweight match due to a rupture of her anterior talofibular ligament in her left ankle. Invicta was aware of the injury three weeks prior to the announcement but waited to confirm the severity of the damage before making the formal declaration. Due to the said development, the outfit has already replaced the headliner of the event, pitting Michelle Waterson who will defend her atom weight title against Herica Tiburcio.

Justino is the current featherweight champion of Invicta and is moving down in weight presumably as a pre-cursor to a move to the UFC and fight her long time arch-enemy Ronda Rousey. Both women have bad blood boiling over them dating back to their younger fighting days. Justino claimed during an interview in October that the champion was ducking her dating back to their Strikeforce days, stressing that Rowdy moved down to 135 when she was the reigning champion at 145.

Cyborg wrestled the featherweight championship from Gina Carano in 2009 and defended the title twice before failing a drug test. Now, she was hoping that her efforts to move down to 135 and finally arrange a head-on collision with Rousey may come to a pit stop.

"I think (the move is) because of having more girls in 135 than 145," said Cyborg, during an October 2014 interview with Submission Radio. "If I make 135, I want to fight Ronda Rousey for sure."

Rousey, herself has never been shy about her disdain for her rival, pointing out Justino's reluctance to move to the UFC because of heavy doping test requirements. She also commented that Cyborg "embarrassed her country" after testing positive for stanozolol in 2012 and ordered to serve a one-year suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.