2017 hasn’t been the best year for Cris Cyborg, as she’s been involved in a number of controversies outside the cage. Even though she was penned in to compete at UFC 214, the promotion was struggling to find an opponent for the dominant athlete. It looks like she finally has an opponent in the form of UFC newcomer and current Invicta champion, Megan Anderson. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported the news on Friday, and the UFC is expected to officially announce the matchup within a matter of days.
Cyborg is widely considered the best fighter in the women’s featherweight division, even though the UFC women’s 145-pound title is held by Germaine de Randamie. De Randamie has made it clear that she has no intention of fighting Cyborg, even saying that she’s planning to drop back down to 135 and that the organization can strip her of the title that she won at UFC 208, when she defeated Holly Holm.
The 31-year-old Cyborg is 17-1 and enjoying a 12-year undefeated streak. She last appeared in the Octagon in September at UFC Fight Night 95 in Brazil, where she defeated Lina Lansberg in the main event. That contest was at a 140 lbs catchweight, as was her other UFC bout, a TKO win over Leslie Smith at UFC 198.
Anderson is the current Invicta featherweight champion; a belt that Cyborg gave up to pursue the UFC title. Anderson defeated Charmaine Tweet back in January at Invicta FC 21 to claim the title. The 27-year old has an 8-2 professional record and this will be her UFC debut. Anderson has consistently called for the fight against Cyborg but the UFC was silent on whether or not they would make the move to bring her in to face the Brazilian. Anderson is riding a four-fight win steak. She was originally scheduled to face Helena Kolesnyk at Invicta FC 24 in her fight title defense on July 15.
UFC 214 is set for July 29 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier for the UFC light heavyweight title is the main event of the evening. The card also features fights such as Jimi Manuwa vs. Volkan Oezdemir, Renan Barao vs. Aljamain Sterling, Ricardo Lamas vs. Jason Knight, Sara McMann vs. Ketlen Vieira, Brian Ortega vs. Renato Moicano, Sage Northcutt vs. Claudio Puelles, and others.
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