BREAKING: Cris Cyborg Signs With Bellator MMA

Cris Cyborg is now a member of the Bellator roster.

Cyborg and the UFC had a nasty split following UFC 240. UFC president Dana White claimed that Cyborg didn’t want to fight Amanda Nunes a second time, while Cyborg kept pushing for the rematch in the public eye. Edited footage from Cyborg’s camp of a conversation with White was the final straw.

Bellator president Scott Coker announced on his Twitter account that Cyborg is now bound for Bellator.

I am proud to announce that @BellatorMMA has signed @CrisCyborg to the biggest contract in women’s MMA history.

Welcome to the family.

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) September 3, 2019

Cyborg and Coker won’t be working together for the first time. Cyborg eventually became Strikeforce’s biggest female star when Coker helmed the promotion. Her TKO victory over Gina Carano boosted her stock and she continued to dominate for the next nine years before running into Nunes.

Before the announcement, Coker and Cyborg were still in the negotiation process as he told MMA Fighting at the time.

“It’s not anywhere near complete but we’re definitely in the mix,” Coker said. “We think she’d be a great addition to our 145-pound weight class. I think her fighting [current featherweight champion] Julia Budd would be an amazing event, but it’s not done yet. Hopefully, we’ll have some news in the next 10 days or so.”

It didn’t take long for Cyborg and Bellator to reach a deal. Now that Cyborg is in Bellator, she’ll likely be gunning for the promotion’s women’s featherweight champion Julia Budd. Time will tell when that bout comes to fruition.