Dana White says UFC working on Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes: 'The fight everybody wants to see'

ST. LOUIS – At this point, we’re all aware of everyone’s stance on the potential Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes showdown: Cyborg doesn’t want it, Nunes wants it, and Nunes’ coach apparently really wants it.

And UFC President Dana White, as he confirmed backstage at Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 124 event in St. Louis, is still invested in making it happen.

“That’s the fight that I want to do,” White said. “That’s the fight that I want, so we’re working on it. Amanda wants to fight her, and we’re finally in a position where we can give Cyborg big fights. Big fight with big-name people and – money fights.”

White had already talked about this earlier this month, when he told Yahoo! Sports’ that the clash between Brazil’s two remaining UFC champions was “the fight to make” after Cyborg successfully defended her featherweight belt with a win over former 135-pound champ Holly Holm.

Cyborg (18-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who was never thrilled about the matchup to begin with, was quick to shoot that down. But Nunes (15-4 MMA, 8-1 UFC) took to Twitter to defend the fight, which ATT head coach Conan Silveira said “was 1,000 percent going to happen.”

Oh, Cyborg had some thoughts about Silveira, too.

Cyborg had previously talked about two issues with the matchup: First, she said she’d rather avoid fighting a fellow Brazilian. But mainly, she had a problem with fighting yet another 135-pound fighter instead of women in her own division. She then called for a meeting with either Invicta FC champ Megan Anderson or Pam Sorenson.

“If Amanda Nunes truly wants an opportunity at the (145-pound) belt, a win against any ranked contender in that division would help establish her back in a weight class she left before fighting me,” Cyborg wrote on criscyborg.com.

More recently, Cyborg made the case for a meeting with the UFC’s original women’s 145-pound champ, Germaine de Randamie. On the same post, she listed a few 145-pound fighters, including former UFC fighter Cindy Dandois, who had “called her out” since her last win.

On Sunday, however, White argued that there simply aren’t that many options available at the 145-pound division – and that Nunes had, in fact, fought at featherweight before.

“If there were more girls in the 145 division, I would be doing it,” White said. “You have to understand, too – at the end of the day, people want to see tough fights. I just gave Cyborg probably her toughest fight in MMA, and now Amanda Nunes is no joke.

“And originally you want to talk about 145-pounders, she was a 145-pound fighter. She was brought into Strikeforce to fight Cyborg. It’s just happening a little later than everybody had planned. And Amanda’s ready, and that’s the fight everyone wants to see.”

To hear from White, check out the video above.

And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.