Cyborg Thinks UFC Would Be Making Mistake To Let Her Leave

If the UFC decides to let Cris Cyborg walk, the former women’s 145-pound champ thinks the promotion is making a mistake.

Cyborg’s contract with the UFC is set to expire in the next few months. When that happens, the Brazilian knockout artist has teased going elsewhere, perhaps even embarking on a career in boxing. However, as she tells Brazilian news outlet PVT, if the UFC lets her walk without a fight, she thinks the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotional juggernaut would be “losing” (via MMA Fighting):

”I don’t know what they will do moving forward,” Cyborg said. “I will keep fighting no matter where I am. My fans love watching my fights. If they decide to remove my division, and remove me from the UFC and let me go, I think the UFC would be losing with that, and the promotion that signs me would be winning. My fans follow me wherever I go.

“I’m very thankful because my fans are with me no matter if I win or lose. I want to continue working. The UFC is a great platform to continue (building) my division. I think that even Amanda felt good at 145, other fighters have as well, because they don’t hurt (their bodies) that much, but that’s out of my control.

“My manager will meet them and see what’s the next step, but if they decide to remove the division, I will definitely continue shining somewhere else, like I’ve always done. Let’s see what happens.”

Future Uncertain

Last month, Cyborg suffered her first loss in over a decade. She was knocked out in under a minute by Amanda Nunes. “The Lioness” went into the fight as the UFC’s 135-pound champion. Now, she holds both the UFC’s bantamweight and featherweight titles, as the first female “champ-champ” in UFC history. After the fight, Cyborg expressed interest in an immediate rematch with Nunes.

However, Nunes herself said she’d make Cyborg wait quite a while before giving her a rematch. That’s left Cyborg’s future in the UFC and MMA up in the air. Also, UFC President Dana White said he’s not interested in making the rematch so soon, as the initial fight was very decisive.