Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
After Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White laid the hammer down on Cris Cyborg earlier today in a rant that led to her release from the promotion, the Brazilian fighter now seems to be backtracking just a little bit.
In a recent Instagram post (shown below), Cyborg addresses the video that her team captured backstage at UFC 240 last weekend showing a conversation between herself and White. The video originally played as if White was saying he doesn’t tell the truth, which was part of the reason why the UFC president went off on Cyborg early Friday.
Now, Cyborg is taking the video back and blaming her production team for editing the footage to make it appear as if White was saying something that he really wasn’t.
“Hey guys, I know that many people saw the video of my confrontation with Dana White after UFC 240 that was posted on my official YouTube channel, Twitter account and Instagram account,” wrote Cyborg. “I want to let everyone know that the video was edited by my Production Team to make it appear as though Dana told me “and listen whenever you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying …the truth.” Dana did not say that to me, and the subtitles in the video were incorrect. As you can see from the unedited video, Dana actually said “and listen, whenever you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying negative things about you.” Dana and I have had many disagreements during my career in the UFC, and I have been adamant about standing up for myself in situations where I feel my character and statements have been misrepresented and used against me. But I also take pride in being an honest person and a true professional. I take full responsibility for the actions that resulted in the edited video being posted on my social media accounts. We were wrong, and I have addressed this issue with my Production Team so that it doesn’t ever happen again in the future. ?Finally, I want to apologize to Dana White for posting the video. Even though we will continue to disagree about numerous issues, I will always stand up for doing what is right.”
Looks like Miesha Tate was right.
Cyborg, as hard as this may be, is doing the right thing in apologizing for her team manipulating the video footage, but it’s already too late. White and UFC seem completely over the Cyborg era and believe the 34-year-old Brazilian legend is better off in another promotion like Bellator MMA.
While Cyborg and her team need to take the blame for this altered footage, it’s not like the entire situation involving UFC is her fault. Both sides could have communicated much better over the years to ensure a lasting relationship but it was simply doomed from the start.
Be sure to stick with Mania for more Cyborg fallout.