Former women’s featherweight champ Cris Cyborg was already on the list of fighters who aren’t feeling Dana White these days. But last night she got super specific why. The longtime MMA standout served up Felicia Spencer’s first career loss in Canada, then blasted White specifically for bullying her during her contract with his promotion and lying about her gameness as a competitor. That contract, which technically ended with the Alberta matchup, is now in flux as Cyborg enters a period of free agency.
“Everybody knows that I don’t have the best relationship with UFC,” Cyborg told reporters during her post-fight interview. “I don’t have the best relationship with Dana White. He’s bully me around, bully me on the internet. I suffer bullying everywhere because of this. He never said he’s sorry to me about this.”
Cyborg also stated that White is a liar, disputing his public claims that she’s turned down the opportunity to face champion Amanda Nunes, the woman who stripped Cyborg of her title last year, in a rematch. In case you missed it, White told MMA Junkie this earlier this month:
“Listen: I’m not saying anything negative about Cyborg. She does not want to fight Amanda Nunes. That is a fact. Why she would be mad at me because she doesn’t want to fight Amanda Nunes is beyond me…These are facts. Amanda Nunes wants to fight Cyborg. We want to make an Amanda Nunes vs. Cyborg fight. Cyborg does not. That’s a fact,” said White.
Maybe he meant alternative fact?
“Of course I want Amanda, for sure,” Cyborg told Joe Rogan center cage just after her victory was announced. “I asked for a rematch after that fight.” Here was that affirmative statement in full:
“Saying I’m scared to fight Amanda Nunes…I text him after the fight saying I want the rematch. This is don’t help me growing my brand. This damages my brand. I don’t want somebody damage my brand, I want to grow together. We’re going to have to take a little time and see what is going to be better for me.”
And while Cyborg and Dana take that time on this little break, you can bet other promotions are going to be sliding into her DMs trying to woo her away. Which would be a shame, because Nunes wants the rematch and the UFC is the right place for that fight to happen.
