Miesha Tate has problem with possible Cris Cyborg-Megan Anderson title matchup

For more than a decade, Cris Cyborg has been leaps and bounds ahead of every woman in the featherweight division. And that, Miesha Tate said, is an issue in deciding the next challenger to Cyborg’s UFC title.

Since her successful title defense over Holly Holm this past weekend at UFC 219, Cyborg (19-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), the UFC’s featherweight titleholder, has been calling for a fight against Invicta FC champion Megan Anderson (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Not only is it the next logical matchup, it had felt like the only one for Cyborg at the moment, given the fledgling UFC women’s 145-pound division isn’t filled out.

Still, earlier today, UFC President Dana White told Yahoo! Sports that Cyborg instead will fight bantamweight titleholder Amanda Nunes (15-4 MMA, 8-1 UFC) next. Anderson could possible could Cyborg after that fight,  but Tate sees a problem if Cyborg-Anderson happens anytime soon.

“The problem I have with that fight is, um, the quality of opponents Megan has beat, I don’t feel they’re even remotely close to Cyborg,” the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion said Wednesday on SiriusXM’s “MMA Tonight.” “I think she’s a bit green at this point.”

Anderson, 27, began her pro career in November 2013 and has 10 fights to her credit, including five under the Invicta FC banner. She became the promotion’s interim champion in her last fight with a TKO win over Charmaine Tweet in January 2017. Anderson was later promoted to undisputed champion after Cyborg vacated for her shot at the UFC title, which she won in July at UFC 214 with a TKO victory over Tonya Evinger. Anderson originally was booked to face Cyborg back then, but she later withdrew for undisclosed personal reasons.

Following UFC 219, Anderson congratulated Cyborg, 32, and called for the champ to defend her title against a “legit featherweight” in reference to herself. Cyborg, in turn, said Wednesday on social media that she’d accepted a fight with Anderson for next month’s UFC 221 event in Anderson’s native Australia, which Anderson dismissed as “fake news” shortly after.

Even so, it seems likely Cyborg vs. Anderson could happen eventually, if later rather than sooner. Despite Anderson holding physical advantages over Cyborg, it’s not enough for Tate to feel differently about the matchup.

“I think Megan will probably be the next one to get it. I think she’s the most marketable,” Tate said. “She’s very tall. She’s very long. She’s very rangy. … She’s going to have a height advantage. That makes it interesting. She’ll be the first woman who has that much of a reach and size advantage, you could say, on Cyborg.

“But I don’t think she’s experienced enough yet. There’s a big difference in the women she’s been fighting and beating, and then Cyborg.”

For complete coverage of UFC 219, check out the UFC Events section of the site.