Cyborg Goes Off On Amanda Nunes For Pushing Back Superfight
UFC president Dana White has acknowledged that a fight between featherweight champion Cris Cyborg and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is the fight to make next.
Cyborg wants to stay as active as possible. Her last fight took place back in March when she finished Yana Kunitskaya in the first round. Cyborg wanted to jump back into the cage in September, but Nunes has already announced that she has signed a contract to fight her fellow Brazilian in December.
Speaking to MMA Fighting recently, Cyborg voiced her displeasure with Nunes requesting to push back their superfight, thus only allowing her to fight twice in 2018:
”Amanda has talked a bunch of stuff, saying she couldn’t fight, that she was injured and would take her six months to recover,” Cyborg said. “She challenged me in January and said she’s injured and needs some time. Ok, fine, but I’m a champion in my division and I’m always fighting.
”She’s used to fighting only once a year, but I’m ready to fight now. It’s been four months since my last fight, and I’m ready.
“There’s no excuse. ‘Oh, but there aren’t opponents for you.’ There are. If you look out there, there are. I’ve always fought in Invicta and always had opponents.”
”If you watch her interviews, it’s like she’s going out on vacation,” Cyborg said. “My job is fighting. I want to fight. I don’t want to stay out for almost a year in my prime. I think it’s disrespectful. … Dana (White) took Colby Covington’s belt. He won that belt two months ago and was stripped because (Tyron) Woodley wants to fight and he’s injured.
“How about me, who wants to fight? She challenged me six months ago and still needs six months? She said she’s going to travel with her girlfriend. No problem with that, but I’m ready to fight. A champion must be ready at all times. I want to fight now, and when she’s ready we can fight.”
Cyborg also suggested that the UFC doesn’t promote Brazilians as heavily as other fighters. She pointed to Ketlen Vieira as one of her prime examples, and also included names like “Jacare” Souza and Demian Maia:
”It’s no secret that the UFC doesn’t promote Brazilians,” she continued. “Ketlen Vieira will fight Tonya Evinger now. She has 10 straight wins and should be fighting for the belt. OK, Amanda wants to move up, so she deserves an interim belt in Sao Paulo against a ranked girl. She’s fighting Tonya Evinger, who’s not even ranked in the UFC, in a non-title fight.
“Why are they doing that? Because they will do Holly Holm with someone else for the interim belt. I’m almost positive of that. But that’s not right with Ketlen Vieira, who is ranked. You see what happened with ‘Jacare’ (Souza) and Demian Maia… But that doesn’t even frustrate me anymore.
”With my fans helping me, I think I can fight sooner. It’s not fair to have me sidelined in my prime because Amanda wants to go out on vacation. I’m the champion for 10 years, before the UFC had women fighting. I’m the champion and that’s how I make a living. We only get paid when we fight, and I’ll stay out for almost a year waiting for Amanda.”
