Following a dominant first round finish on Saturday night, Cris Cyborg may be in line for a super fight against Amanda Nunes sooner rather than later.
For months, the super fight pitting champion against champion in the women’s featherweight and bantamweight divisions has been teased by the UFC, but Cyborg was ultimately brought into save UFC 222 after the show desperately needed a main event.
Add to that, Nunes verbally agreed to meet Raquel Pennington at UFC 224 in Brazil in May, which made it seem like a showdown with Cyborg would be pushed back until even later in the year — if it happened at all.
Now with Cyborg making short work of Yana Kunitskaya, UFC president Dana White is considering a change of plans when it comes to Nunes’ next fight.
“The fight to make is [Cyborg] and [Amanda] Nunes. That’s the fight that needs to happen,” White said at the post fight press conference. “Nunes wants the fight. She wants the fight. I want the fight. I’m sure the fans want to see it, too. We’ll get that one going.”
When asked if it’s possible that he may cancel the planned fight between Nunes and Pennington, White seemed to believe that not only could happen — that’s what he’s leaning towards doing right now.
“I think that I will,” White said about scrapping Nunes’ fight with Pennington in favor of a matchup against Cyborg instead. “Could be. [Cyborg] just fought. Once the adrenaline goes down, she’s got to get checked out, make sure she’s 100-percent.
“I just think that her and Nunes is the fight that needs to happen.”
Health-wise, Cyborg is just fine after her first round drubbing at UFC 222, but the reigning UFC women’s featherweight champion says May might be a little too early for her to return to action after stepping up to take this fight on short notice.
Cyborg is preparing to adopt her niece and bring her back to the United States at the end of the month and that would mean a rather quick turn around to then fight on May 12 in Brazil.
Either way, Cyborg is more than happy to face Nunes — it’s just a matter of when the fight will actually take place.
“For me it’s going to be too soon,” Cyborg said about fighting at UFC 224 in May. “Because I’m going to Brazil, I have a lot of things to do. I’m going to adopt and bring my niece [to live with me]. That’s going to be the end of March. I accepted this fight because it’s the beginning of March and I could continue with my plan. Let’s see.”
