Dana White recently claimed that bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes wants to fight featherweight titleholder Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino, and now ‘The Lioness’ has confirmed that is the case.
“First of all, I have nothing personal against @criscyborg I do believe it is the fight that everyone wants to see and a fight where we can both leave our marks on this sport,” Nunes wrote on Twitter.
Nunes’ confirmation comes after ‘Cyborg’ responded to White’s assertion that this was the fight to make by stating that she wanted to fight a top featherweight contender instead.
It seems that reading Nunes’ latest remarks hasn’t changed her mind either, as ‘Cyborg’ has since responded to her fellow Brazilian reaffirming her stance on the matter.
“I will fight the #1 contender available with a win at 145 in the last year next,” ‘Cyborg’ replied to Nunes. “My mark on the sport will be opening doors for all women.”
‘Cyborg’ wasn’t finished there though as she then took to her own Twitter page to make further comments on the situation.
“Ive won every “superfight” the @ufc has given me over the past 2 years. I will now fight the #1 contender at FW the sport deserves integrity.”
In all fairness though, ‘Cyborg’ is bending the truth somewhat here as no-one was suggesting that fights with the likes of Leslie Smith, Lina Lansberg and Tonya Evinger were in any way to be considered superfights.
On the other hand the fight with Holm could be seen as such in some people’s eyes due to the fact that Holm was a former bantamweight champion, though at the same time she had lost three of her last four fights heading into the bout.
Nunes is a different proposition altogether though, being the current 135lb titleholder and currently wielding a six-fight winning streak over the best her division has to offer, including victories over the likes of Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Valentina Shevchenko and Holly Holm.
Nevertheless, ‘Cyborg’ is sticking to her guns and has even gone as far as to criticize Nunes for not backing her desire to see a more structured roster of featherweight fighters on the UFC roster.
“I would have been in the @ufc much sooner if women really wanted to work together to build the sport and opportunities for all athletes.
“I wish champions like @Amanda_Leoa had stood up 4 the sport and helped campaign a FW division with me! Leaving a mark that helps all women.”
