Invicta FC Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino made a successful Octagon debut in front of hometown fans and supporters tonight at UFC 198: “Werdum vs Miocic” in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Justino quickly stopped Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith in a 140-pound catchweight bout.

Tonight’s UFC debut was a long time coming for Justino, who had been campaigning for a fight in the UFC for more than two years. She towered over Smith, a one-time Invicta FC flyweight title challenger, and battered the Californian with heavy punches en route to a first-round TKO stoppage.

Justino (16-1-0, 1 ND) opened tonight’s action with a hard right hand in the opening seconds and she followed with a combination that backed Smith (8-7-1) up. The fighters traded punches until Justino dropped Smith with a big one-two. Smith tried to grab on to one of Justino’s arms in hopes of limiting the damage that the Brazilian could inflict, but Justino battered her with vicious ground and pound from the top. Smith rolled to her side and referee Eduardo Herdy waved off the fight.

Following her quick and dominant victory, Justino stated that she intends to continue to defend her 145-pound title for Invicta FC, but she is also open to competing in future catchweight bouts for the UFC if an opportunity presents itself.

Winner: Cristiane Justino by TKO (Punches) at 1:21 of round one. She improves to 16-1-0, 1 ND.

(Photo Credit: UFC)