Cris Cyborg isn’t officially the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s featherweight champion, but she feels like she is.
Cyborg will battle Tonya Evinger inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The bout is set to be for the vacant women’s 145-pound title. It’ll be part of the UFC 214 main card.
During a recent online chat with the Brazilian media, Cyborg said she’s viewing the bout as a title defense (via MMAJunkie.com):
“Actually, the way I see it, this fight to me is a title defense. I didn’t lose my belt. I left it vacant. The way I see it, it will be a title defense. In the eyes of some people, it’s more valuable than the belt I already carried. But, for me, it’s yet another defense. I’ve always trained and dedicated myself as if I was the No. 1 contender, even already being the champion.”
She then gave her opinion on the state of the UFC’s women’s featherweight division.
“I think that, since the UFC took so long to create the 145-pound division, most athletes signed with Bellator. And that’s why the girls in my division with a bigger name are in Bellator. Some are still at Invicta, too – and I was supposed to fight one of them in Megan Anderson. But, due to lack of documents, she’s not able to fight. And her irresponsibility, too.”
