Former UFC contender Sara McMann shares her thoughts on uncertainty of Cris Cyborg's status with Bellator
Sara McMann weighed in on Cris Cyborg's status with Bellator as the reigning women's featherweight champion is currently a free agent and continues to negotiate with the promotion.
During her Bellator 294 pre-fight media availbility, McMann was asked whether she would be open to an interim women's featherweight title fight against No.1 contender Cat Zingano should the negotiations with Cyborg linger on.
McMann mentioned that she wouldn't be in favor of an interim title and believes that the current champion should make a decision on her future, so the division can move on and crown a new champion.
"I just don't know how long you could hold something for someone if they may or may not come back. So, I think that at a certain point, like, [Cris] Cyborg should probably make a decision if she's gonna go somewhere else. It should just be a regular title fight [against Cat Zingano]." [10:33 - 10:46]
The former UFC title challenger then noted that should Cyborg return to Bellator, she doesn't believe she would be considered for a title shot over Zingano. The 42-year-old mentioned that she believes an interim championship should only be brought into the equation should the champion be injured for an extended period of time, saying:
"I understand interim titles, but I feel like that should be used a little bit more if like you don't wanna hold up a division but that person is having surgery. But when it's something like they might sign with a new promotion, at some point you have to decide whether you're gonna vacate or you're gonna come back." [11:03 - 11:22]
It will be interesting to see whether Cyborg re-signs with Bellator as McMann could be another potential challenger in the future.
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When is Sara McMann making her Bellator debut?
BREAKING: Huge featherweight clash set for #Bellator294 on April 21st.
UFC veteran Sara McMann makes her promotional debut against the number-two ranked contender Arlene Blencowe.
#Bellator #MMA https://t.co/tQyKKGSXlS
Sara McMann is set to make her promotional debut when she takes on former Bellator title challenger Arlene Blencowe this Friday at Bellator 294.
Blencowe is currently the No.2-ranked women's featherweight who is coming off her title fight loss to reigning women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. It's been almost a year to the day since she last fought. Hence, it will be interesting to see how she performs coming off the loss.
The former Olympic silver medalist, on the other hand, is coming off a win over No.9-ranked UFC women's bantamweight Karol Rosa, which saw her earn a unanimous decision after all three judges scored the bout 29-28 in her favor.