Cyborg, Nunes call for featherweight title rematch
Cris Cyborg defeated Felicia Spencer by a unanimous decision on Saturday night at UFC 240 to rebound from her first loss in 13 years.
It was the final fight on Cyborg's UFC contract, but the 34-year-old announced afterward that she's gunning for a women's featherweight title rematch with Amanda Nunes.
However, Cyborg must first repair her relationship with the promotion and its president Dana White. White said last week that Cyborg doesn't want to face Nunes again, as she's "afraid to lose again."
"We have a lot of issues, me and the UFC," Cyborg said at Saturday's post-fight press conference. "I don't complain about anything, but it's not just the fight, because people and the media don't see the things inside, but we have a lot of things we have to work on to continue to stay. Everybody knows I don't have the best and greatest relationship with the UFC, I don't have the best relationship with Dana White. He's bullied me around, bullied me on the Internet and I'm suffering bullying everywhere because of this.
"... Like, to say I'm scared to fight Amanda Nunes, to say I don't want to fight her, this is a liar, because I text him after the fight saying I want the rematch," she continued. "This don't help grow my brand. It damages my brand and if I'm going to work for a promotion I don't want somebody to damage my brand. I want to grow together and we're going to have to take a little time and see what's going to be better for me."
Nunes knocked out Cyborg in 51 seconds at UFC 232 in December to win the featherweight belt, handing Cyborg her first loss since 2005.
The champ took to Twitter to declare she welcomes a rematch.
Congrats, I’m ready for this.... again @criscyborg. Parabéns, vamos lá novamente. @danawhite
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) July 28, 2019
White also wants to see the two top featherweights scrap again.
"I love it. That's the fight to make. That's the fight I want to make, so we'll see what we can do," White said after Saturday's show.