Women’s featherweight champ Cris Cyborg vs. women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes is a fight UFC president Dana White has been talking up since Cyborg soundly beat Holly Holm last month. And now it seems like it may be very close to reality after Cyborg herself took to social media to hype up the fight.
“I have agreed to fight Amanda Nunes July 7th in Las Vegas as part of UFC 226 and International Fight Week,” she wrote on Instagram. “I am now waiting for my manager to work with the UFC on a bout agreement so we can make Cyborg vs. Nunes the superfight official.”
Pretty exciting, huh? The first female champion vs. champion fight in the UFC’s history! The third overall, following in the footsteps of BJ Penn vs. Georges St-Pierre and Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez. But a closer look at Cyborg’s message makes you realize that the fight isn’t as official as it initially sounds.
Cyborg has a long history of trying to force fights into reality through social media, and this is just the latest example. For months she posted fake UFC fight announcements in a bid to pressure the promotion into booking her in her hometown of Anaheim for UFC 214. She used similar tactics to drum up interest in a fight with Holly Holm, and a last second fight with Megan Anderson at UFC 221 which never came together. Now she’s trying again to get the Nunes fight on her terms.
The word from UFC headquarters was that the promotion was looking to book Cyborg vs. Nunes for a May event in Rio de Janeiro. But Cyborg, who previously said she’s only interested in fighting her fellow Brazilian Nunes if it’s at a bigger event, apparently has other ideas. Knowing the UFC’s plans and Cyborg’s history, it’s a safe bet to assume the only person who has agreed to Cyborg’s idea is Cyborg herself.
Amanda Nunes’ partner Nina Ansaroff pretty much confirmed that in her response to Cyborg’s announcement.
— Nina Ansaroff (@NinaAnsaroff) January 23, 2018
That’s not to say this fight won’t come together … just that there’s a whole lot of steps between where we are now and the bout getting signed. The UFC has to agree to Cyborg’s date, they have to agree to whatever her financial demands are to face the women’s bantamweight champ, and Nunes’ demands to move up in weight to face the featherweight champ. That’s a lot of moving parts, but if it comes together we’ll have a historic moment for women’s MMA and an even better fight to look forward to.
