One of the most iconic MMA moments of 2018 went down at last night’s UFC 232 when Amanda Nunes knocked out Cris Cyborg to win the women’s heavyweight title.
The fact that bantamweight champion Nunes did that was jaw-dropping in its own right, but how she did was even more amazing. “The Lioness” walked Cyborg down with no respect for her fearsome striking ability. It took her only 51 seconds to faceplant Cyborg for a shocking win.
Cyborg released a statement on social media where she remained incredibly classy after her first UFC defeat. It just wasn’t her day, she claimed. Yet another bout against Nunes seemed like a clear choice for Cyborg’s next fight due to her previous dominance. The fact there are few, if any, clear-cut women’s featherweight contenders made that ifght even more likely.
But not so fast, says UFC president Dana White. White offered the stance on the FOX Sports 1 post-fight show (via MMAjunkie) that an immediate rematch may not be next based on the result:
“I don’t think you do,” he said when asked about Cyborg vs. Nunes 2. “It was a pretty convincing win.”
Nunes wasn’t as blunt in her assessment of the situation, but she did remain noncommittal on staying at 145 pounds. It was tough putting on the weight and sparring with much larger male fighters, she said. So ‘The Lioness’ will meet with White and the UFC soon to decide her next move:
“Honestly, I think what I went through in this camp was a lot. Putting all this weight back and training heavy with those guys at the gym.
“We’ll see. You never know. Let me go back home and talk to Dana White to see what he thinks. But soon you guys are going to know.”
White was less than specific when asked about what Cyborg’s loss meant for the women’s featherweight division, a weight class seemingly created just for Cyborg:
“We’ll come up with something for her.”
It’s difficult to imagine just what that would be outside of a rematch with Nunes, even if the women’s bantamweight champ finished Cyborg in less than a minute.
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