Cris Cyborg signs with Bellator

Bellator president Scott Coker has just confirmed that former UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg has signed with the organisation. Posting a video on his Twitter account shortly after 9pm BST, Cyborg herself confirmed that she will be looking to become the first female to have won featherweight titles in Bellator, UFC, Invicta and Strikeforce.

After a tempestuous relationship with her former employers, Cyborg called time on her three-year stint with the UFC following a unanimous victory over a gutsy Felica Spencer at UFC 240: Holloway vs Edgar in July this year.

With seventeen of her twenty-one fights ending with a KO/TKO victory, Cyborg has built up a fearsome reputation in her fourteen years as a professional fighter which has seen her record rise to an enviable 21-2 (1 no contest). However, her fearsome reputation and record came to a sensational turning point when she was knocked out in 51 seconds by Amanda Nunes to lose the UFC featherweight title.

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

Welcome to the family. pic.twitter.com/BQM29cCUP3

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) September 3, 2019