It feels as if Cris Cyborg and the UFC have had a rocky relationship since even before the Brazilian joined the promotion.
First, Cyborg and the company had a long battle over what weight she could fight at under the UFC banner, with her appearing at a (seemingly arbitrary) catchweight of 140-pounds on two occasions.
After it became clear she could no longer make that weight, the UFC installed the 145-pound women’s featherweight weight class, only for Cyborg to be hit with a USADA infraction. As the relationship seemed to be nearing the edge of no return, Cyborg finally resolved her USADA issues, and defeated Tonya Evinger for the vacant women’s featherweight title at UFC 214.
With the belt around her waist, and all parties seemingly willing to put their bad blood behind them, fans could have been forgiven for thinking Cyborg and the UFC would be in a working partnership going forward.
Apparently not.
My meeting with the @UFC for next week has been canceled. They want to pay me less to fight @HollyHolm than I made to fight Tonya Evinger
— #UFC219 CyborgVHolm (@criscyborg) October 3, 2017
As women’s featherweight division currently has a roster of Cyborg herself, the UFC have been trying to put a contest between the champion and former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm. According to a post on Cris Cyborg’s twitter account today — they aren’t trying that hard.
“My meeting with the UFC for next week has been canceled,” Cyborg wrote. “They want to pay me less to fight Holly Holm than I made to fight Tonya Evinger.”
Cyborg earned a disclosed $200,000 for UFC 214. While Evinger gained plaudits for stepping in the cage, it’s fair to assume any fight between Cyborg and Holm would be significantly bigger contest.