Los Angeles (May 4, 2023) – BELLATOR MMA is proud to announce the blockbuster re-signing of Featherweight World Champion Cris Cyborg (26-2), MMA’s only Grand Slam Champion, to an exclusive, multi-fight contract. With the historic contract, BELLATOR has retained the greatest female fighter of all time to its industry-leading women’s featherweight division.
Cyborg, 37, returns to BELLATOR following two dominant unanimous decisions to kickstart her career in professional boxing. The world-renowned Brazilian standout will retake her place atop the division eager to keep her perfect record inside the BELLATOR cage intact, boasting a 5-0 slate with the promotion that includes four highlight-reel finishes and four title defenses.
“After receiving multiple offers from several promotions I’m very happy that I was able to come to terms with BELLATOR and remain the face of their women’s featherweight division,” said Cyborg. “Scott Coker is a promoter that I’ve worked with and respected for many years. He’s done so much to further women’s MMA and give us a platform to showcase our skills. When making this decision, it was important to me that I was signing with the organization that I felt had the biggest names and the top talent at 145 pounds for me to challenge myself against. There is no question that all the top female featherweights are signed with BELLATOR and I can’t wait to get back in there and defend my belt.”
“It’s not every day you have the opportunity to re-sign the greatest women’s mixed martial artist to ever compete in the sport, but that’s exactly what we have done with Cris Cyborg,” BELLATOR President Scott Coker said. “There is no female athlete who can match what Cris has done inside or out of the cage and my favorite part about Cris is her continued willingness to take on all comers. So, if you’re a free agent looking to compete in the best women’s featherweight division in all of MMA, come test yourself against BELLATOR’s Cris Cyborg.”
Cyborg’s re-commitment to BELLATOR comes at the perfect time; fellow MMA legends and superstars Cat Zingano (14-4) and Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann (14-6) have each fought flawlessly in their BELLATOR tenures, setting up multiple can’t-miss super-fights in the star-studded featherweight division. Cyborg has traded verbal jabs with Zingano for years since their paths became intertwined in BELLATOR, and now, the culmination of the back-and-forth that stoked such fan excitement will finally happen.
A 28-fight veteran, Cyborg is the only fighter in MMA history to win titles in BELLATOR, Strikeforce, the UFC, and Invicta FC. She struck fear into the hearts of opponents during a thirteen-year-plus unbeaten streak from 2005 to 2018, and her devastating punching power has seen her amass an eye-popping twenty knockouts. Cyborg holds victories over the likes of Gina Carano, Marloes Coenen (twice), former world champion Holly Holm, former BELLATOR champion Julia Budd, Arlene Blencowe (twice), and Tonya Evinger, among many others.
Today, Cyborg continues to reign dominantly over the division she helped pioneer. Now once again aligned with BELLATOR, she will seek to defend her title multiple times atop marquee BELLATOR events in the next chapter of her Hall of Fame career. She will return to a weight class loaded with contenders, including Zingano, McMann, budding star Leah McCourt, and unbeaten prospect Sara Collins in addition to familiar foes in Sinead Kavanagh and Arlene Blencowe.
