Cris “Cyborg” Justino was ready to fight at UFC 219 in December but as of now there’s no indication that she’ll actually return on that date.
Late Tuesday night, Cyborg revealed via Twitter that an upcoming meeting she had scheduled with the UFC to hash out a new contract was cancelled when she discovered the purse that was being offered for a proposed fight with former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm.
“My meeting with the UFC for next week has been canceled,” Cyborg wrote on Twitter. “They want to pay me less to fight Holly Holm than I made to fight Tonya Evinger.”
My meeting with the @UFC for next week has been canceled. They want to pay me less to fight @HollyHolm than I made to fight Tonya Evinger
— #UFC219 CyborgVHolm (@criscyborg) October 3, 2017
Following her fight with Evinger in July where she became the undisputed women’s featherweight champion, Cyborg told MMAWeekly.com that she had one fight left on her current UFC deal with a time limit to book that matchup by October.
Obviously, Cyborg wasn’t expected to fight as early as October but she was hopeful that they could come to an agreement on a new deal that would allow her to sign an updated contract to remain in the UFC.
“The UFC is the best MMA promotion in the world. I have been the best female MMA fighter in the world for a long time according to most fans. Now that I am UFC champion the company and myself have some more time to get things right and establish a healthy working relationship,” Cyborg said back in August. “It is my goal that I can continue fighting for the best promotion in the world and make the biggest fights the fans want to see.”
According to the salary figures released by the California State Athletic Commission, Cyborg earned $200,000 for her fight against Evinger where she won the women’s featherweight title.
Unfortunately it appears Cyborg and the UFC have come to an impasse in negotiations for her new deal and the next fight that would serve as her first title defense.
