Dana White has claimed that Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino will have a superfight with bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes next, but it seems that the featherweight champion is less than thrilled with the idea.
“First of all, Amanda Nunes wants to fight her,” White told Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole. “Amanda Nunes wants to fight Cyborg. That is the fight to make and that is the fight I will make. That’s the fight. Amanda Nunes is a big, strong, powerful puncher. I think she matches up very well with Cyborg too and I think that’s a fun fight and that’s the fight to make.”
Cyborg has since responded to that in detail via a lengthy post on her official website, in which she argues that she should be fighting one of the featherweight divisions top contenders instead of another bantamweight fighter.
“As a world champion it is important that you face the (No. 1) contender,” Cyborg wrote. “That is what makes it sport and not entertainment, otherwise what are the girls fighting at (145 pounds) training to work towards if they know they will never be given a title shot even if they become the best in the world? I have a responsibility to the sport to ensure that when I retire the division continues to exist, and it is because of that I want my next fight to be against a contender from the featherweight division that has fought at (145 pounds) within the last year.
“If Megan Anderson is not ready to fight, then the next available contender Pam Sorenson deserves the opportunity. I can continue giving fans superfights. However, in order for this division to grow, it is my responsibility to respect the work of all the women fighting at (145 pounds) and give the top girls a chance at the title once they have earned it.
“If Amanda Nunes truly wants an opportunity at the (145-pound) belt, a win against any ranked contender in that division would help establish her back in a weight class she left before fighting me.”
Despite her suggestion, it’s hard to imagine that the UFC would be in a rush to book Cyborg against Pam ‘Bam’ Sorenson, who currently fights for Invicta FC and holds a 6-2 record, given that she lost as recently as May of last year against Ediane Gomes.
Instead, either refocusing on the fight with Anderson or finding a way to convince Cyborg to fight Nunes seems lthe most likely course of action in a division that unfortunately still lacks any real sense of structure heading into 2018.
