Cris Cyborg’s long-standing beef with UFC CEO Dana White may be water under the bridge.
Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cyborg never saw eye-to-eye with White, even during her UFC tenure, during which she became 145-pound champ. She parted ways with the UFC in July 2019 after the promotion opted not to re-sign her one fight after she lost the belt to Amanda Nunes.
But in an interview with ESPN, Cyborg revealed she recently had a cordial text exchange with White and asked him if she can come to the UFC Apex to support her training partner, Dione Barbosa, who earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series 61 earlier this month.
“I texted Dana if it’s OK that I can go watch my friend – we always train together – and he said, ‘It’s OK Cris – no problem’,” Cyborg said. “He said, ‘OK, Cris, you can come,’ because we’ve been sparring together, we’ve been training together for two years and I know it’s one big dream for her. … She won – great fight – and she’s got her contract. I already forgive him, everything that happened. I’m getting older and I don’t hold grudges. (We have) just different ways in life, but I wish the best for him for sure.”
Cyborg (26-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), who recently re-signed with Bellator, defends her featherweight title against ex-UFC title challenger Cat Zingano (14-4 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) at Bellator 300, which takes place Oct. 7 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 300.
