On Saturday, at UFC 232, Cris 'Cyborg' Justino suffered her first loss in 13 years - a stunning first-round knockout loss to Amanda Nunes. In just 51 seconds, Nunes, the UFC women's bantamweight champion, ended Cyborg's impressive streak and also became the women's featherweight champion.
Both fighters came swinging right out of the gate, but it was Nunes who sent Cyborg stumbling to her knees after landing some devastating blows. Cyborg, who clearly underestimated Nunes's power, said after the fight that she would like a rematch with the new double champ and vowed to improve on her performance.
"Of course. I can rematch [Nunes] any time Dana White wants to put it together. I love fighting and this has put more fire in my heart to continue fighting. Of course, of course, and Jorina Baars I want to rematch too. I always say this. When I stop fighting MMA, I want to go to Muay Thai and rematch her. I never, when I go step in the cage, say I want to prove something. I like to improve. I like to get better and continue training. And after this fight, for sure, I’m going to train harder.”
Unfortunately, not everyone seems convinced that Cyborg is worthy of a rematch right away. At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White seemed hesitant in setting up an immediate rematch.
“I don’t think you do,” White said. “I mean, it was a pretty convincing win. … I gotta get back in the lab and figure it out [what’s next for Cyborg], but we’ll come up with something for her.”
Cyborg took issue with his response, pointing out
on Twitter that both Ronda Rouse and Joanna Jędrzejczyk both had immediate shots at regaining their belts after a loss.
Nunes was also asked about the possibility of granting Cyborg a rematch after their fight, but she admitted she wasn't in the right mindset to think about that sort of thing.
“I don’t know,” Nunes said.
“Let’s see. I want to go home and then sit down with my coaches. This moment is huge in my life, you know? I have to process it. I can’t think about anything else right now, honestly. [We’ll] see what is going to happen next.”