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Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes 2? Bellator chief Scott Coker is down, but he knows the deal

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Does Cris Cyborg’s move to Bellator mean the idea of a rematch with the only woman who defeated her in the past 14 years is dead?

Not necessarily, at least according to those involved with the Bellator side of the equation.

On Friday, TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter tweeted that, during an interview conducted with Cyborg, the former UFC, Strikeforce, and Invicta featherweight champion said Bellator president Scott Coker would be open to cross-promoting a bout with UFC dual champ Amanda Nunes under the right circumstances.

In a subsequent interview with MMA Junkie following Bellator 226 ceremonial weigh-ins, Coker confirmed he’s open to the idea – but with a rather large asterisk attached. 

“Listen, if (Nunes is) a free agent, let’s do it,” Coker told MMA Junkie on Friday. “If you’re not a free agent, and (the UFC wants) to do it, we’ll do it. So any time, let’s get it on. I don’t think it is in their business model to do a promotion like that, but we would do it in a second.”

Coker, of course, has long been about broadening MMA’s horizons by holding inter-promotional matchups. The recent pair of fights between Rizin FF’s Kyoji Horiguchi and Bellator’s Darrion Caldwell, which ended with Horiguchi holding both companies’ bantamweight championships, is just the most recent bit example of a partnership that helped raise both promotions’ profiles.

The difference here, though, is that the UFC’s reputation for not playing well with others is long established. And a company which often does its best to pretend that other companies don’t even exist, even under the best circumstances, is highly unlikely to work with a fighter who left under such acrimonious circumstances as Cyborg did after a public feud with UFC president Dana White.

Coker doesn’t pretend otherwise, which is why he’s inclined to believe that if a rematch between Cyborg and the woman who knocked her out in the opening around at UFC 232 is to happen, it won’t go down until after Nunes’ UFC tenure is done.

“I think I know the answer to that: It’s not their business model to do it, right? They run their business a certain way,” Coker said. “But if the UFC wanted to put Amanda Nunes, we’d put Cyborg up in a second.”

Until then, there are plenty of matchups for Cyborg, who will make an appearance before fans Saturday night at SAP Center, the same building in which she earned her historic Strikefore title victory over Gina Carano 10 years ago last month. 

“It’s an honor to promote her,” Coker said. “We promoted her early on, and we saw her grow just to the heights, and she is the GOAT. Don’t get me wrong, I kid you not, she is the greatest female fighter of all time. There’s other personalities involved. Ronda (Rousey) had a great run, and she did great in WWE. Gina has been fantastic doing the ‘Star Wars’ episodes. But when you talk about the fighter, the greatest fighter of the female division of all time, it’s Cyborg.”

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