The hottest fight to make in women’s MMA right now is an Amanda Nunes vs. Cris Cyborg rematch, but not only are we not getting it in the immediate future, it may never come about at all. Nunes is scheduled to fight Holly Holm on July 6th while Cyborg’s final fight on her current UFC contract will be against Felicia Spencer on July 27th. What happens after that is unclear, but the whole situation is certainly not sounding very positive at the moment.
UFC president Dana White has made multiple claims over the past month or so that Cyborg and her team aren’t interested in the Nunes rematch. Cyborg took to social media to dispute that assertion in pretty strong terms.
”If we are suppose to be business partners and building trust so that we can work towards a new deal, let’s stop the lies,” she wrote in the caption for a video showing her listening to White.
If we are suppose to be business partners and building trust so that we can work towards a new deal Let’s stop the lies. @danawhite @paradigmsm #CyborgNation @ufc @espnmma @Amanda_Leoa pic.twitter.com/u9B2BOKXwO
— Cris Cyborg on Youtube (@criscyborg) June 28, 2019
”This is number one bulls**t,” Cyborg said in the video, quoting our favorite Dagestani wordsmith Khabib Nurmagomedov. “UFC never gonna give me the rematch if I don’t sign a new deal. This is number one bulls**t.”
Cyborg has gone back and forth regarding whether she was particularly interested in re-signing with the UFC, and we don’t blame her. Back when she was working with Scott Coker in Strikeforce, she was a marquee attraction that was scheduled regularly. They had the same issue finding worthy challengers as the UFC, but there was no question Coker appreciated the hell out of Cyborg and treated her like a top five star in his promotion.
With the UFC, you always get the feeling they see Cyborg as a thorn in their side rather than an asset. Complaining too much about stupid little things like the lack of any fighters in the women’s featherweight division and being stuck without a fight for a year at the prime of her career. Dana White seems about as certain about keeping Cyborg around as he was with the flyweight division. With this latest string of comments burying her and painting her as ducking the Nunes rematch, we’d say the UFC may be about done being in the Cyborg business.