Breaking: Cris Cyborg signs new multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA announced in a press release that they have re-signed reigning women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg to a new multi-fight deal.
This is significant for the promotion as Cyborg is regarded as one the greatest female fighters of all time. She had been a free agent since successfully retaining her women's featherweight championship against Arlene Blencowe last year.
The Brazilian MMA legend made her promotional debut at Bellator 238, where she defeated Julia Budd via TKO to become the new women's featherweight champion. It has been an impressive title reign as she currently has title defenses against Sinead Kavanagh, Leslie Smith, and Blencowe twice.
In the press release, Bellator president Scott Coker praised the women's featherweight champion for her dominance and willingness to compete against anybody, saying:
"There is no female athlete who can match what Cris has done inside or out of the cage, and my favorite part about Cris is her continued willingness to take on all comers."
It will be interesting to see how soon Bellator plan to book the next women's featherweight title fight now that the champion's new contract as been made official.
Who will Cris Cyborg fight next?
Cris Cyborg wasted little time in setting the stage for her first fight under her new deal with Bellator MMA.
The reigning women's featherweight champion replied on the promotion's tweet regarding who should challenge her next. She sent a tweet alluding that former UFC title challenger Cat Zingano is who she'd like to fight next.
She wrote:
"Here kitty kittyβ¦"
Zingano is currently riding a 4-fight winning streak and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Leah McCourt at Bellator 293.