The situation between former UFC Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg and UFC President Dana White continues to be strained at the moment.
Cyborg fought her last contracted bout against Felicia Spencer at UFC 240 last week, picking up a nice decision win over the previously undefeated fighter. However, the news surrounding the former Featherweight Champion is whether she’ll re-sign with the company, and based on the history between Cyborg and Dana White, it doesn’t appear that we’ll see her in a UFC octagon ever again.
That is of course, the UFC President apologizes to the Brazil native. White has continuously claimed that Cyborg is “afraid” to fight Amanda Nunes, a statement that doesn’t seem to ring true given the fact that the former UFC Featherweight Champion has been vocal about a rematch against the double champ since losing last December.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on Monday, Cyborg stated that a lot of things would have to change on Dana White’s end in order for her to fight in the UFC again (transcript courtesy of
mmafighting.com):
“I think a lot of things have to fix and change for [me] to have more fights in UFC,” Cyborg said. “Everybody who follows my career knows my struggle with UFC. They know I never start fighting with UFC because the promotion want me to be there. No, it was the fans pressure. I have opportunity to be in UFC because my fans put so much pressure [on them]. It’s not because they wanted me there."
“They don’t help me. They don’t help me grow my brand. All the time they try to damage my brand, especially Dana White and he’s the head of UFC. If you look at the face of UFC, who is the face of UFC? Dana White, and he continues to damage my brand. It started a long time ago. It started when I was in Strikeforce. I don’t know what his problem [is] but he continues doing this and I proved him wrong.”
Cyborg also talks about White’s offer for a contract extension, which she isn’t a fan of due to the nature of the promotion’s deals and the lack of money that they were paying her:
“The minimum contract [offer] was six fights,” Cyborg said. “But the problem, the UFC puts me in fights one time a year. Who am I going to fight after Amanda? If you don’t want to make the deal - a one-fight deal, no extension, just the rematch and I’m free - I don’t have any problem to make the fight. Now they want to give me a contract with six fights, at one time per year, imagine how long I’m gonna be in the UFC. And then my brand is not growing because I’m gonna fight one time per year and they’re not helping my name growing, just damage. This is no help for me. . .
“We have to fix the money too. And I told that to Dana White’s face. Man, you’re not gonna get the rematch if you pay the money you guys are paying for six fights.”
Cyborg is demanding that the UFC President make a public apology, something that Dana White has previously said he doesn’t feel he needs to do because he’s done nothing wrong:
“Of course he has to apologize,” Cyborg says.
“He has family, he has kids and I think if he wants to be honest, he’s supposed to do this. I don’t know if he has a heart, but what he’s doing is not just [affecting] me. He’s [affecting] people around me, my family. It’s not right. When you’re doing these type fo things, there’s no avoiding my family. He’s [affected] them. . .
“[And it must be in ] public. It’s easy to talk [in private] like Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan said ‘I’m sorry’ when there were no cameras, just by myself. No, you want to talk about me, how I have a dick, you have to talk in public. You’re not a man, to me you’re not a man. If Joe Rogan a man, he will say I am sorry in public, like what he said. Not coming behind in the room and talk to me in my ear. ‘I’m sorry.’ This is not type of man that I know.”
Was last Saturday the final fight for Cyborg inside a UFC ring? Only time will tell.