Cris Cyborg has revealed her next MMA fight will likely be against Cat Zingano.
When Zingano signed with Bellator, a featherweight showdown against Cyborg seemed inevitable. Now that the Brazilian MMA legend got her feet wet in boxing, the matchup against ‘Alpha’ is expected to take place in 2023. During an interview with Mike Owens of MiddleEasy, the current Bellator women’s featherweight champion had this to say about what’s next:
“I believe our next fight is going to be in the summer. She’s [Zingano] the next one in line for the title, and we were supposed to fight before…”
Earlier in 2022, Cyborg accused ‘Alpha’ of avoiding a fight against her. The latter fired back by saying she never received a contract. The 37-year-old Brazilian said this when asked why Zingano is a worthy title challenger:
“She’s been undefeated at 145 pounds. She has a lot of experience, great grappling. She’s been improving her standup too. It’s gonna be an exciting fight for the fans. I want to do the great biggest fights for the fans, and she’s a great name.”
After parting ways with the UFC, ‘Alpha’ signed with Bellator and made her promotional debut in September 2020. Since then, she’s won all three of her fights, making the 40-year-old the number one featherweight contender.
Cris Cyborg isn’t looking past Cat Zingano
Cris Cyborg has dominated the Bellator women’s featherweight division. The Brazilian world champion continues to maintain a champion’s mindset by never overlooking an opponent. During the same interview with MiddleEasy, Cyborg was asked what would be next after beating Cat Zingano. She responded by saying:
“I never like to choose my opponents. I know Cat Zingano is the next in line, and I for sure know Bellator has been working on the featherweight division, getting the next ones for fighting. I like to do a step each time. Now I’m gonna focus on her, Cat Zingano, and get ready for a great fight. After that, we will see who’s gonna be next.”
Cyborg made her Bellator debut in January 2020. She’s remained undefeated through five fights, including four title defenses and four finishes. The Brazilian world champion took a break from MMA to pursue her dream of competing in boxing. The 37-year-old won two boxing fights before revealing aspirations to continue defending the Bellator women’s featherweight title.
🚨 During my Boxing Fight last week I suffered a broken nose from an accidental headbutt…
😳 Today on my OF I uploaded footage of the Doctor “re-setting” it in the locker room
👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽https://t.co/78MLZGpR2P pic.twitter.com/m0aKyGRDDE— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) December 19, 2022
