On the same day UFC president Dana White announced his intentions to release Cris Cyborg Justino from her contract and not match any offers, the former women's featherweight champion admitted a recently released video she posted from behind-the-scenes of UFC 240 was doctored to mislead viewers.
In the video, which has since been removed, it appeared that the UFC president had admitted that he had been lying to the media and fans about Cyborg being scared of a rematch with Amanda Nunes. In the original, edited video, he stated:
"...and listen, whenever you hear me saying stuff, I'm not saying... the truth."
This seemed to suggest that White had been lying and that Cyborg had really wanted a rematch, which the UFC was preventing and covering up. However, Cyborg admitted that the video was edited to make it look like Dana White had said that. What Dana White really said in the raw and unedited video was: "Whenever you hear me saying stuff, I'm not saying negative things about you."
Cyborg posted the unedited conversation on Instagram along with an apology to Dana White and fans.
Hey guys, I know that many people saw the video of my confrontation with Dana White after UFC 240 that was posted on my official YouTube channel, Twitter account and Instagram account. I want to let everyone know that the video was edited by my Production Team to make it appear as though Dana told me “and listen whenever you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying …the truth.” Dana did not say that to me, and the subtitles in the video were incorrect. As you can see from the unedited video, Dana actually said “and listen, whenever you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying negative things about you.” Dana and I have had many disagreements during my career in the UFC, and I have been adamant about standing up for myself in situations where I feel my character and statements have been misrepresented and used against me. But I also take pride in being an honest person and a true professional. I take full responsibility for the actions that resulted in the edited video being posted on my social media accounts. We were wrong, and I have addressed this issue with my Production Team so that it doesn’t ever happen again in the future. Finally, I want to apologize to Dana White for posting the video. Even though we will continue to disagree about numerous issues, I will always stand up for doing what is right. •••••••••
A post shared by ®️Cristiane Justino (@criscyborg) on
Hey guys, I know that many people saw the video of my confrontation with Dana White after UFC 240 that was posted on my official YouTube channel, Twitter account and Instagram account. I want to let everyone know that the video was edited by my Production Team to make it appear as though Dana told me “and listen whenever you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying …the truth.” Dana did not say that to me, and the subtitles in the video were incorrect. As you can see from the unedited video, Dana actually said “and listen, whenever you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying negative things about you.” Dana and I have had many disagreements during my career in the UFC, and I have been adamant about standing up for myself in situations where I feel my character and statements have been misrepresented and used against me. But I also take pride in being an honest person and a true professional. I take full responsibility for the actions that resulted in the edited video being posted on my social media accounts. We were wrong, and I have addressed this issue with my Production Team so that it doesn’t ever happen again in the future. Finally, I want to apologize to Dana White for posting the video. Even though we will continue to disagree about numerous issues, I will always stand up for doing what is right. •••••••••
It's unclear what will happen next. With Cyborg a free agent, she seems ready to take offers from other promotions.
Unfortunately, this probably means we won't get to see a rematch between Cyborg and Amanda Nunes.