Cris “Cyborg” Justino spread her arms apart Saturday night after finishing her latest victim.
The pose had dual meaning, part a celebration capping Justino’s ascension to UFC champion and a look of “what took you guys so long?” to give her a crack at the belt.
In a sharp, punishing performance, “Cyborg” stopped Tonya Evinger by third-round technical knockout to win the UFC’s vacant featherweight belt at Honda Center.
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Justino (17-1) capped an onslaught of scoring blows on Evinger in the third with a hard knee to the head that dropped Evinger. Justino moved in to deliver finishing-touch punches and the referee stopped the fight 1 minute, 56 seconds in.
In the same arena where Venice’s Ronda Rousey became women’s bantamweight champion four years earlier, Justino finished her extended journey to her own title that was delayed by a slew of factors, including bickering with UFC leadership.
After winning the new featherweight belt in February, then-champion Germaine de Randamie effectively opted to surrender her belt rather than take on the dominant “Cyborg,” who trains in Orange County.
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Justino flashed that dominance by landing a series of punches in the first two rounds that usually drop foes. Evinger, the game Invicta fight organization 135-pound champion, hung on as her hair became a tousled mess from the damaging blows.
Justino remained unmarked, systematically blasting Evinger with the shots, adding in hard knees and kicks, then finally sending Evinger to the canvas with a punch seconds before the finish arrived.
The action preceded the night’s main event, a light-heavyweight title rematch between champion Daniel Cormier (19-1) and former long-reigning champion Jon Jones (22-1), who defeated Cormier by unanimous decision in January 2015.
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Former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler edged former lightweight title challenger Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, with all three judges awarding Lawler 29-28 scores in the unanimous-decision triumph.
Lawler, fighting for the first time since losing his belt to Tyron Woodley a year ago this weekend, sought to finish Cerrone early, throwing heavy fists in the opening minutes and landing a hard knee to the jaw.
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Jon Jones kicks Daniel Cormier during their light-heavyweight title fight at UFC 214 at Honda Center.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Jon Jones, right, clobbers Daniel Cormier during their light-heavyweight title fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Jon Jones grapples with Daniel Cormier (bottom) during their light-heavyweight fight at UFC 214 at Honda Center.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Jon Jones punches Daniel Cormier from above during their light-heavyweight championship bout at UFC 214 at Honda Center.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Daniel Cormier tries to cover up as Jon Jones unleashes an attack during their light-heavyweight championship bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Jon Jones celebrates after stopping Daniel Cormier in the third round of their light-heavyweight fight at UFC 214 at Honda Center.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia, right, tangle during a welterweight bout at UFC 214 at Honda Center.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Tyron Woodley stands over Demian Maia during their welterweight bout at UFC 214 at Honda Center.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Tyron Woodley raises his arms in victory after defeating Demian Maia in a welterweight bout at UFC 214 at Honda Center.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Cris “Cyborg” Justino, left, and Tonya Evinger trade punches during their featherweight championship bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Cris “Cyborg” Justino (top) grapples with Tonya Evinger during their featherweight title fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Cris “Cyborg” Justino reacts after defeating Tonya Evinger in a featherweight championship bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Cris “Cyborg” Justino celebrates after defeating Tonya Evinger in a featherweight title fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Donald Cerrone, left, and Robbie Lawler trade punches during their welterweight fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Robbie Lawler, right, goes on the offensive against Donald Cerrone during their welterweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Volkan Oezdemir takes down Jimmy Manua during their light-heavyweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Volkan Oezdemir celebrates after defeating Jimmy Manua in their light-heavyweight fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Ricardo Lamas sends Jason Knight reeling with a punch during their featherweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Ricardo Lamas delivers the decisive blows to defeat Jason Knight by TKO during their featherweight fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Aljamain Sterling attempts a kick against Renan Barao during their bantamweight fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Aljamain Sterling attempts to submit Renan Barao during their bantamweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Renato Moicano, left, tries to block a kick by Brian Ortega during their featherweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Brian Ortega (bottom) defeats Renato Moicano with a choke hold during their featherweight fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Andre Fili lands a kick against Calvin Kattar during their featherweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Calvin Kattar, left, and Andre Fili trade blows during their featherweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Alexandra Albu (top) tries to pummel Kailin Curran during their strawweight fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Alexandra Albu attempts to kick Kailin Curran during their strawweight fight at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Jerrod Brooks, left, and Eric Shelton exchange punches during their flyweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Jerrod Brooks (bottom) goes for the takedown against Eric Shelton during their flyweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Joshua Berkman attempts to kick Drew Dober during their flyweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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Joshua Berkman is given medical attention after he was knocked out by Drew Dober during their flyweight bout at UFC 214.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Cerrone, marked under the left eye, weathered the attack and took down Lawler to slow the aggression, then came back to land scoring punching combinations to Lawler’s face in the second.
But Lawler, showing impressive defense on kicks, found Cerrone with a hard kick early in the third, then added an elbow and a short punch to set up the entertaining type of action expected from the two up-andcoming fighters.
Light-heavyweight Volkan Oezdemir impressively opened the pay-per-view portion of the card by knocking out No. 3-rated Jimi Manuwa of England in 42 seconds.
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Third-ranked featherweight Ricardo Lamas exploited the suspect defense of prospect Jason Knight, hammering him with punches to drop him, then finishing him on the canvas at 2:52 of the first round.
L.A. featherweight Brian Ortega improved to 12-0 with a third-round submission victory (guillotine choke) over Brazil’s Renato Moicano.
Former bantamweight champion Renan Barao was rocked by third-round punches from No. 8-rated Aljamain Sterling in a 140-pound catch-weight fight, and Sterling (14-2) earned a victory by decision.
