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Frustrated UFC champ Cris Cyborg says Amanda Nunes could be final opponent

With Cris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes in disagreement about the date of a possible meeting in the octagon, Cyborg said she’s willing to grant her fellow UFC champion her wish of fighting in December – but she wants another fight first.

Talks of a super fight between the UFC’s women’s 145-pound and 135-pound champions intensified earlier this year, amid calls from Nunes and her camp. A lot of back-and-forth ensued, but the two ultimately ended up defending their belts against different opponents, and talks of the match had somewhat quieted as of late.

That was, until this week, when they started battling on social media again. The problem, this time, wasn’t about whether they would fight, but when: Nunes (16-4 MMA, 9-1 UFC) posted a picture of a signed contract for Dec. 29, when UFC 232 is set to take place, while Cyborg (20-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) pushed for a fight on Sept. 8 at UFC 228.

Cyborg, who most recently beat Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 222 in March, went on Brazilian show “Combate News” on Thursday to give her side of the most recent snag in the super fight negotiation.

“Friday, last week, I talked to the UFC, and I said I wanted to fight, that I’m ready to fight,” Cyborg said. “I’ve been training, ready, and I want to fight. They offered me September, the 8th, in Dallas, to fight Amanda. I said that’s fine. I’ll fight. I’ve been training. I’m ready. A champion has to be ready all the time.

“Then on Monday they said (she) didn’t accept Sept. 8. Then I said I wanted to fight anyway. I want to fight. I don’t want to be idle. And then Amanda sent the picture, saying she accepted the fight on Dec. 29.”

Cyborg said she’s accepted this fight three times. More recently, she pushed for it to happen on July 7, at UFC 226 – a date she hoped Nunes would be able to fulfil even after a May 12 meeting with Raquel Pennington. That obviously didn’t happen. And while she said she’s fine with Nunes taking the time she needs to heal her injuries and make the move up in weight, she doesn’t think it’s fair for her – or their respective divisions – to be put on hold.

“It’s the same as someone arriving at your house, knocking at your door and asking you to throw down, and then they say, ‘Wait, I need one year to prepare,’” Cyborg said. “When you do that, you have to be ready for when the fight happens. But then to need six months to prepare, one year? I think it’s disrespectful toward me, to wait one year for a person to be ready. I have no problem with fighting Amanda on Dec. 29. She wants time to be ready. But I believe I could fight before that, not wait all this time. Especially because we get paid when we fight. …

“I don’t think it’s right for the girls in Amanda’s division to wait one year to fight. I know that Ketlen Vieira, she deserves to fight for the belt. So if (Nunes) needs all this time to move up a weight class, heal her leg, whatever time she needs, then she should vacate the belt and do an interim belt so Vieira has her shot at the belt.”

Asked about whom she could meet in a possible fight between now and Nunes, Cyborg alluded to the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which features female featherweights.

“They did the (‘TUF 28’) house, and they cut all the girls at 145,” Cyborg said. “They only signed up the girls who can make 135 pounds. Holly Holm says she doesn’t want to fight now. Pam Sorenson tried out for ‘TUF,’ but she didn’t make it. They didn’t put her through I think because she doesn’t make 135. There’s Cindy Dandois, who also beat Megan Anderson.

“There’s Ediane Gomes, who sends me messages challenging me all the time. (She’s) also in my division. There are girls who can fight. There are girls in my division. But they don’t want it. They want that fight with Amanda. But I don’t think it’s fair to wait 10 months, one year for this fight to happen.”

Cyborg has always talked openly about the fact she doesn’t have many fights left on her UFC contract – and even talked about plans of trying her hand at a boxing career. On Thursday she once more stressed that we might not get to see a lot more of her in the octagon.

“I believe (Nunes) will be my last fight in the UFC,” Cyborg said. “My contract goes until March, and with me waiting to fight in December, I think it will be the last one people will see me fight.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, visit the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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