Cat Zingano recently used her Twitter account to casually suggest Bellator MMA women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg was running from drug testers, which may or may not be retaliation for having to secure another win before scoring a 145-pound title shot.
Either way, Cyborg was not amused.
“Cat Zingano, why are you lying? I haven’t refused any drug tests,” Justino fired back (via BJPenn.com). “I’m ready whenever you are. Behind the scenes you keep saying to Bellator you need more time to prepare for me, you need a different opponent first, now you go on social media with lies and smear campaigns and excuses? Sad.”
Bellator MMA President Scott Coker believes it’s a matter of timing.
“I think timing is going to be an issue on that fight when Cat is ready to fight her, and we would like that fight to happen as soon as possible,” Coker said at the Bellator 273 press conference. “That is our plan, but we have to have both fighters agree to that plan. So we’re talking to the managers and Cat’s manager and find out whether she’s ready to fight and will she be willing to fight Cyborg.”
Sounds like Zingano wasn’t going to be ready to face Cyborg on March 11, but it’s unclear whether or not “Alpha” had credible intel or simply used the incendiary drug testing tweet to place the blame on her Brazilian rival, who tested positive back in 2012.
Perhaps “Bones” isn’t the only one who prefers to battle on Twitter.