Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White is no longer in the Cris Cyborg business, this much we know. While Cris had already made up her mind that she wasn’t going to re-sign with UFC following her win over Felicia Spencer at UFC 240, White came out a few days later to say she didn’t have to wait to sign elsewhere, as her contract was completely void and UFC wouldn’t even try to match.
And so the whole “who broke up with who” debate began.
“He knew,” Cyborg said. “(Dana) said, ‘I’m out of the business of ‘Cyborg.’ I got out first. He did not let me go. I went first because he didn’t want to make the rematch, and I had to wait a long time to fight. But now, it’s in the past,” Cyborg told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during Saturday night’s Bellator even in San Jose, Calif.
But that isn’t the only thing Cris and White can’t come to terms with, as the fearsome striker is adamant she never turned down a rematch against Amanda Nunes, saying she lobbied for it time and time again. And despite White saying Cris didn’t want the fight, Cyborg says she asked for it but UFC declined.
“After my last fight, I asked for a rematch (with Nunes),” “And they said they’re not going to give it to me,” she said. “When I did my last fight, I knew it was the last fight. When I stepped into the cage, I said, ‘This is the last one.’”
After inking a record-setting deal with Bellator MMA, Cris says she wants nothing more than to move on, but every time White talks about her in the media, he makes it seem like a divorce.
“It’s a new chapter in my career,” she said. “(Dana) lost. You can see all the interviews he talks about me because it feels like we’re divorced. It’s another page in my career, and I’m really happy to be a part of Bellator.”
Indeed, it seems Cyborg and White never got off on the right foot from day one, and now that they’re no longer associated with one another, everyone can be happy. Still, Cris says a rematch with Nunes is not out of her sights.
“It’s still there,” Cyborg said. “Why not? I talked about this to Scott. I said, ‘Scott, if I have the opportunity to fight Amanda and do the rematch, it can be champion against champion.’ He’s open for that. We’ll fight you. Just call us.”
Something tells me White won’t even consider the idea.