Bellator have won in their bid to sign former UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg in a deal they claim is the biggest in WMMA history.
“I have worked with countless athletes over my 30-plus years of promoting combat sports, but there is no-one quite like Cyborg,” Bellator president Scott Coker said as the deal was announced.
“Cyborg is the most dominant female fighter in the history of the sport and she will be a perfect fit here at Bellator.”
Coker had worked with Cyborg while head of the Strikeforce promotion, but the Brazilian star would eventually move on and after a long standoff finally was signed by the UFC in 2016.
However, though Cyborg continued to be a dominant force in women’s MMA for much of her UFC run, aside from a swift loss to Amanda Nunes, her relationship with the promotion, and Dana White in particular, remained uneasy at best and would eventually lead to her being given free agency after her current deal came to an end.
“You guys know I have a lot of girls I want to fight at 145lbs and this means you’re going to have a lot of fights per year and I’m very happy about that,” Cyborg said of the deal.
“My goal is to be the only female fighter to hold four different major titles in the same division.”
