UFC News: Dana White confirms end of company's relationship with Cris Cyborg
What's the story?
The saga of Dana White and Cris Cyborg has been the talk of the MMA world recently. The constant back-and-forth jibes between the two kept fans on their toes, as there appeared to be enormous underlying problems between White and Cyborg.
Now, it appears that Dana White has effectively confirmed that the UFC and Cris Cyborg are parting ways from here-on. He spoke about the matter extremely freely in an interview with Laura Sanko.
In case you didn't know...
Disagreements and fights between promoters and talent have a history of going very bad, very fast. That was not the case here, as the apparent end of any relations between the two parties took a long time -- in effect, it was a slow burn.
Dana White had said that Cyborg had turned down offers of a rematch between herself and Amanda Nunes repeatedly, a statement that Cyborg viscerally disputed.
Things were not looking good between the two.
However, the appearance of a backstage video following UFC 240, where the two confronted each other, seemed to indicate there was hope. Cyborg accused White of lying, with White saying that he had not lied and wanted to make the fight between Nunes and Cyborg happen.
It appears all was not as it appeared to be.
The heart of the matter
Cris Cyborg said that she did not want to damage her brain more given that she had hurt. Dana White said that they were all excuses to not have to face Amanda Nunes.
"All these other bulls*** that she is putting out there, again, is to avoid fighting Amanda Nunes. Message received, I get it. I am going to release her from her contract. I will not match any offers. She is free and clear to go to Bellator and these other organizations and fight these other fights that she wants. Done, Done deal. I will literally today have my lawyer draft a letter to her team that she is free and clear to go wherever she wants. We're out of the Cyborg business." (Please credit Sportskeeda with transcription for quotes taken from this article)
It appears things are well and truly over between the UFC and Cris Cyborg.
What's next?
Cris Cyborg might be looking to sign with another promotion soon, as it appears she will not be signing with UFC.