The reason behind the switch-up was not given at first and many theories began to pour in. Now, Bellator President Scott Coker is ready to shed some light on the situation.
“So basically Cat wanted to have one more fight before she fought Cris,” Coker told MMA Fighting. “I don’t even think she was the one that really made that call; it was her manager.”
Cyborg accepted Zingano’s challenge and seemed ready to fight—that is until the announcement of Zingano vs. Sorenson. After that news came out, Cyborg tweeted and deleted a message accusing Zinagno of running.
“So the manager said ‘we want one more fight.’ So we said ‘OK’ and we put together the fight for her. From there if she wins, she can fight Cris,” Coker explained.
Zingano has won two fights in the Bellator featherweight division since joining the organization following the end of her UFC run. If she wins this third fight Coker claims that she will get Cyborg next, however, if she loses it could be Sorenson who leapfrogs into the title shot.
At this time, Cyborg does not have another option in the works. She could just wait for the winner of this bout featuring Zingano and Sorenson.
Do you think Cat Zingano really wanted to face Cris Cyborg next?
Cat Zingano will not be fighting for the Bellator featherweight title next.
It seemed like the Bellator featherweight title picture was pretty clear. Cris “Cyborg” Justino was being called out by Cat Zingano and both had publicly agreed to fight one another. Now, it seems that Zingano will not be facing Cyborg for the title next. Instead, a bout was announced where Zingano is matched up with Pam Sorenson.
“She turned down a World Title Fight to compete on the prelims?!” Cyborg wrote and deleted (via Yahoo! Sports.)
Sorenson is ranked seventh in the Bellator rankings, and Zingano sits in second. Sorenson is coming off a loss to Arlene Blencowe back in November. Before that, she won two in a row in Bellator and Invicta FC. Most likely with a win, Zingano would be next for a title shot; however, the terms that led to the potential fight falling through this time around could very well create issues going forward.
Do you think a fight between Cris Cyborg and Cat Zingano will ever be made?
Cris Cyborg enjoyed a professional wrestling style match with Melissa “Thunder Rosa” Cervantes at her private training facility.
Rosa is no stranger to mixed martial arts. She trained with Cris in the past and had a professional bout in 2019.
After an MMA training session, Cyborg agreed to try a pro wrestling match.
Thunder Rosa and Cris Cyborg, Photo Credit: CrisCyborg.com
“I always do something for [opening] the door for women’s wrestling, you know, it’s a different world too and it’s just hustle,” Cyborg told James Lynch (h/t Sportskeeda).
The technique proved to be a learning experience for the Bellator Featherweight Champion.
“We didn’t train together, we did one match, a pro wrestling match. You know, I was no good because I don’t know too much about the rules but probably you guys are going to have fun, we did a video too,” continued Cyborg.
On January 31, the video of the session will premier on Cyborg’s YouTube channel.
The Legend Of Cyborg
Cris Cyborg, Photo Credit: Cris Cyborg via Twitter
Cyborg continues to stack her impressive résumé.
With 20 wins by knockout from Storm Samurai to the UFC and now Bellator, 25 wins and only 2 losses, the first and only Grand Slam MMA fighter in history—holding four championship belts in four different promotions—Cris Cyborg is an MMA legend.
And outside of the cage, Cris puts her heart into less fortunate communities.
As a world champion, she feels it is her duty to make significant positive changes in the world. Her goal is to inspire everyone to help out in whatever way they can.
There is more to come from the defending Bellator women’s featherweight champion.
Perhaps after the fun wrestling match with Thunder Rosa, fans might see the champion add an AEW cameo to her long list of various achievements.
Would you like to see Cris Cyborg at a future AEW event?
Heading into 2019, Cris Cyborg had just suffered her first MMA loss since her debut in 2005 when Amanda Nunes shocked the world by knocking her out at UFC 232 in December. As her contract was coming to its end, many wondered if there would be a rematch or if Cyborg would even remain with the promotion.
In the following article, her coach sounded confident that she’d remain with the UFC. Nine months later, however, she signed with Bellator MMA and has been dragging Dana White and the UFC frequently ever since.
The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 9, 2019, 3:21 PM]
Headline: Coach: Cyborg Isn’t Leaving The UFC
Author: Jon Fuentes
Former UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg is nearing the end of her UFC deal. Cyborg’s deal will expire in March, and there’s a real possibility she could leave the promotion.
The former Invicta FC champ has teased a career in boxing. She could even test herself in other promotions such as Bellator MMA, or even ONE Championship. Cyborg’s last Octagon appearance was a shocking one, to say the least.
She co-headlined UFC 232 from California opposite Amanda Nunes. Nunes made quick work of Cyborg, knocking her out in under a minute. With the win, Nunes became the first-ever female “Champ Champ” in UFC history. Heading into the fight, Nunes was already the 135-pound champion. With the defeat, and Dana White shooting down an immediate rematch opportunity, many are skeptical about Cyborg’s future.
Her coach, Jason Parillo, was recently interviewed by MMA Junkie. Parillo seems confident that Cyborg isn’t going anywhere, and will remain with the UFC:
“We’re not going to leave the UFC,” Parillo said. “We’re going to stay there, plug away and get back the title that Cris had. She has the time and ability to do it.”
“If we could get a fight between now and March, that would be wonderful, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. The negotiations are obviously the manager’s job, and I just want the best for Cris.”
What do you think about Cyborg’s coach saying she won’t leave the UFC?
Despite many perceiving it to be the biggest upset in UFC history, Bellator champion Cris Cyborg wasn’t surprised to see Julianna Peña beat Amanda Nunes at UFC 269.
Closing the year in style at 2021’s final pay-per-view, Peña shocked the world inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena by dethroning the “Lioness.” Ahead of the clash, not many were giving “The Venezuelan Vixen,” who entered the contest off the back of two wins and two losses in her previous four fights, much of a chance.
The general consensus was that Nunes, a dominant two-division champion who hadn’t lost since 2014, was on a 12-fight win streak and had beaten the likes of Valentina Shevchenko, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, and Holly Holm, would shut Peña’s confidence down in emphatic fashion.
Instead, the underdog took the fight to Nunes on the feet before taking the Brazilian down and submitting her in the second round. The debate over whether it’s surpassed upsets like Matt Serra’s win against Georges St-Pierre and Holm’s victory over Rousey will rage on, but it’s certainly up there with the most shocking moments in UFC history.
But one person who was not at all surprised was former UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg. The Brazilian, who now competes under the promotional banner of Bellator MMA, knew Peña had what it takes and predicted an upset last weekend.
Speaking about the result in an interview with Combat Sports on Fanatics View, Cyborg explained why she expected “The Venezuelan Vixen” to get the job done on December 11, a feat that Cyborg failed to accomplish herself in 2018.
“You know, I was not surprised. I (picked) Julianna Peña because the five losses for Amanda Nunes, four were the same style as Julianna Peña. And before, we knew Amanda Nunes danger is in the beginning, in the first round. If you pass the first round with her, you can get in the fight. We knew this. Of course, when you fight her, you go fire to fire and that happens, you know, what happened.
Image Credit: Christian Petersen/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
“We knew that when she goes past the first round, she sees she cannot finish you, so she’s either gonna run away or quit on the floor or something, and this is what happened for Julianna Peña.”
Despite praising the newly-crowned champ’s ability to bring the fight to Nunes and force her into a position she hadn’t been in since 2014, Cyborg also questioned the fight-ending sequence. According to the 36-year-old, Peña didn’t have a submission locked in when the “Lioness” tapped out. Echoing the thoughts of many, the Bellator featherweight titleholder believes Nunes “quit.”
“I don’t feel like Julianna did any sort of submission because she didn’t have a submission the way she finished the fight. I feel like Amanda Nunes, at one point, she sees she cannot finish, and Julianna Peña continued going forward and she tapped, but (Peña) didn’t have any submission… I don’t know what was passing through her mind in the second round ’cause when you’re gonna fight for the title, you’re ready for seven rounds, and that was the second.
“I feel like Julianna did very good jabs. In the second round, Amanda wanted to finish the fight, to KO her as fast as she can, but Julianna was keeping her on the jab. The jab really opened a lot of doors for Julianna. The reality is when they stopped the fight, I didn’t think they’d finished the fight because she didn’t have a submission there, and I didn’t see the tap, too… I believe Amanda, I don’t know what passed through her mind there, but I believe she quit at that time.”
With Nunes’ reign atop the bantamweight mountain now over, the debate over who is the greatest female mixed martial artist of all time has now been re-ignited.
While the consensus had been that Nunes’ form and prior victory over Cyborg had her ahead, a portion of the MMA community believes the elder Brazilian, whose setback against the “Lioness” is the only blemish on her record since her MMA debut loss in 2005, holds the GOAT title.
Do you agree with Cris Cyborg? Did Amanda Nunes quit at UFC 269?
Cris Cyborg is grateful for the last fight she had in the UFC.
Cris Cyborg is doing great things in Bellator. She is the reigning champ and is putting on amazing performances. For those who might think leaving the UFC was a bad idea, Cyborg disagrees. She has been reflecting back on her time with the UFC lately and seems to be happy with the direction her career has taken.
Speaking with MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca, Cyborg spoke about a few topics relating to her time with the UFC. Although she recently explained that she never really felt accepted there she felt blessed by the chance she had.
Cyborg’s last fight in the organization was a loss to Amanda Nunes where she lost the featherweight belt. Looking at that fight it could be seen as a blemish on her record, but Cyborg sees it differently.
“Everybody says, ‘Oh Cris, but the Amanda Nunes fight,’ and whatever. In fact, I’m not upset with that fight,” Cyborg said. “That fight happened the way it had to. After that fight happened, it opened a door for other things. I believe I would have stayed in the UFC if I had won that fight, or maybe I’d leave, maybe something would change, but I wouldn’t have what I have right now, and I really think I left [the UFC] to be blessed. I’m very happy.”
Since joining Bellator, Cyborg has won the belt and defended it three times. She is on a roll and looks to stay on top for a while. Her last win was a few weeks ago over Sinead Kavanagh in Florida. She might have her next test set ahead of her already as she has accepted a call out from fellow former UFC fighter Cat Zingano. As for Nunes, she has is still holding the UFC featherweight belt.
Do you think Cris Cyborg will ever face Amanda Nunes again?
