Unfortunately, Yana Kunitskaya was not able to dethrone the women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg at UFC 222.
The former Invicta FC champion suffered a first-round TKO in the main event of Saturday night’s UFC 222 event in Las Vegas. Kunitskaya entered the fight as a massive underdog by many, as most of Cyborg’s opponents do. Despite getting finished in the first round, the fight wasn’ t a one sided affair as Kunitskaya was able to take down the champ and gain brief control. That moment of offense is what makes the loss hurt a more for Kunitskaya.
“That’s why I’m so sad,” Kunitskaya said at the post-fight press conference. “Because I felt I could control the fight at some points, but you saw what happened.” Facing arguably the greatest female fighter in the history of MMA, Kunitskaya admitted she was nervous entering the fight.
“Yeah, it was a weird experience,” Kunitskaya explained. “I was so nervous and I hope to come back as fast as I can. “I think I was nervous because I was facing Cris Cyborg, a great fighter that’s not in my weight class. But it was all a mental problem, I will try to fix it and comeback stronger.”
The Russian fighter told reporters that she plans on returning to her former weight class, the bantamweight division. Kunitskaya is now 10-4 with one no-contest as a professional fighter.