It’ll be a non-title fight at women’s featherweight between former champion Cris Cyborg and Felicia Spencer at UFC 240.
Cris Cyborg’s first fight since losing her UFC women’s featherweight title is now set.
Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that the Brazilian striker will take on Felicia Spencer in the UFC 240 co-main event. The bout is nearly finalized and will be a three-round matchup with no interim belt at stake, while current champion Amanda Nunes defends her bantamweight strap vs. Holly Holm at UFC 239 in July.
Cyborg (20-2, 1 NC) was knocked out by Nunes at UFC 232 in December, ending her 21-fight unbeaten run and time as the unquestioned best featherweight in the world. Known as one of the most feared strikers of all-time, Cyborg was dropped and hurt multiple times by her fellow Brazilian before being put out cold just 51 seconds into the contest. This will be Cyborg’s seventh UFC appearance, but her first non-title since she stopped Lina Lansberg at a 140 lbs catchweight in 2016.
Spencer (7-0) made her UFC debut earlier this month and it couldn’t have gone any better. The 28-year-old took down and choked out Megan Anderson at UFC Rochester, giving her three consecutive wins by rear-naked choke. Given the lack of women’s featherweights on the roster, a fight with Cyborg seemed like an obvious one to make, and now the Invicta FC veteran will take on a legend of the sport in a pay-per-view co-headliner role.
UFC 240 takes place on July 27th in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The main event is a men’s featherweight title bout between reigning champion Max Holloway and former lightweight king Frankie Edgar.