Amanda Nunes Wants Two Years for Cyborg Rematch, Going Back to Bantamweight
Bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes shocked the world on Dec. 29 by knocking out Cris Cyborg in the first round of the UFC 232 co-main event to capture the women's featherweight title. She became the first female to hold two UFC titles at the same time.
Cyborg hadn't lost in 13 years, but there won't be an immediate rematch.
Nunes plans to go back down to the 135-pound division and defend that title in her next outing. As far as a rematch with Cyborg, Nunes says she can wait.
“Cyborg didn’t want to fight me if it took one year to prepare, right? Right now, I don’t think she’s going to want it because I’m going to ask for two years to be ready for her again," said Nunes while appearing on the UFC Unfiltered podcast.
"She didn’t want to wait that much. She didn’t want to stay without fights. Right now, I’m asking for two years to rematch.”
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Nunes won the bantamweight title by submitting Miesha Tate at UFC 200 in July 2016. She defended the title three times before going up a division to challenge Cyborg. The fight appears to have been a one-off deal for "The Lioness."
“I’m going to defend my belt, my original belt, for sure," she said. "I’m going to go down and defend my belt. My division is waiting for me, and we’ll see what happens after. But I don’t think Cyborg is going to want to wait for two years.”
