Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Bellator CEO Scott Coker is promising big things for newly-signed featherweight Cris Cyborg.
Upon Cris Cyborg’s release from the UFC, Bellator CEO Scott Coker immediately saw it as the perfect opportunity to reconnect his business ties with the women’s MMA star. On Tuesday, the two parties made it official in a deal that was deemed the “largest contract in women’s MMA history.”
While Cyborg’s Bellator debut date has yet to be finalized, Coker is already making grand plans for her. One of them is an immediate title shot against current Bellator women’s featherweight champion Julia Budd, which Coker says Cyborg “definitely deserves.”
“(Cyborg) definitely deserves it,” he told MMA Junkie.
Coker believes the UFC never really gave much priority to the women’s featherweight division, as he promises to keep Cyborg more active.
“She was fighting once a year (in the UFC),” Coker said. “That’s what she’s complaining about. We can definitely put her into the cage, I want to say, two or three times a year.
“We’re going to keep her much more active, and two, they’re not in the 145-pound weight class business, and we are. So to me, it’s something I think that we’ve been growing this weight class for the last two, three years, and Cyborg is a great addition to it.
“She will have girls in her weight class to fight, whereas in the UFC, I think it was like, let’s see who we can sign to fight her for a one-off, or make people move up to fight her from a different weight class,” he added. “But the commitment was never to start a 145-pound weight class – it was always somebody just to fight her. I think that’s the difference. We’ll do this one right.”
Cyborg had previously expressed intentions to compete in boxing some time in the future, which Coker is completely open to.
“MMA is going to be her first commitment, but if she wants to box, I’m all about it,” he said. “But we’re going to be a part of it. You might see her boxing on DAZN a couple times a year or once a year.”
Cyborg’s last fight took place at UFC 240 in July, where she got back into the win column by defeating Felicia Spencer via unanimous decision.