Cris Cyborg slams Dana White, wants public apology before re-signing with UFC
Cris “Cyborg” Justino’s UFC contract is up, but she’s not ready to re-sign.
She needs a public apology from UFC president Dana White first.
Cyborg, fresh off her win against Felicia Spencer at UFC 240 on Saturday in Alberta, said on ESPN on Monday that she needs White to apologize for years of “bullying” against her.
“Of course, he has to apologize,” Justino said, via ESPN. “I think he has family, he has kids. ... I don't know if he has a heart, but I think one thing he's doing is not just touching me, because he doesn't like me. He's touching the people around me, he's touching my family. It's not right.”
White and Justino have been feuding for years, most notably starting in 2014 when he publicly compared her to male fighter “Wanderlei Silva in a dress and heels” in a media conference.
“And she did, did she not?” White continued. “Who wants to dispute that she didn’t look like Wanderlei? She got up, walking up the stairs, jacked up on steroids beyond belief and looked like Wanderlei Silva in a dress and heels.”
The jokes have continued over the years. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan joked on a podcast in 2015 that she had male genitalia, too. Cyborg said that Rogan has since apologized to her for his comments, though only did so privately.
“You want to talk about me, if I have a d---, you talk in public,” Cyborg said, via ESPN. “If you want to say sorry, you talk in public. ... For me, you're not a man. If Joe Rogan was a man, he'd go say sorry in public like what he said. Don't come behind in the room and talk to me in my ear. This is no type of man I know.”
Cyborg tweeted out a video pairing both White’s comments from 2014 and Rogan’s podcast from 2015 on Monday afternoon, too, and added a very clear message.
“Every woman deserves the right to go to work in an environment free of sexual harassment, online bullying and work place intimidation,” Justino wrote with the video.
Every woman deserves the right to go to work in an environment free of sexual harassment, online bullying, and work place intimidation. @ufc @Espn @danawhite @joerogan pic.twitter.com/4TVJLfAS5I
— Cris Cyborg Youtube (@criscyborg) July 29, 2019
Cyborg calls out White for lying about potential rematch with Nunes
Cyborg said that the bullying has continued this year, with White publicly claiming that she doesn’t want a rematch with Amanda Nunes, who knocked her out in the first round at UFC 232 last December for her first career loss.
Cyborg has publicly said that she is willing to sign a one-fight contract to fight Nunes again, and said she confronted White about his comments backstage at UFC 240 on Saturday.
“I look in his eyes and I shake his hand and I say, ‘Why are you lying? I texted your phone after the fight. I want my rematch,’” Cyborg said, via ESPN. “And then I said, ‘Why are you doing this? Why?’
“He didn't have words. There were a lot of cameras there, too.”
Cyborg now has a 90-day negotiating window with the UFC to lock down a new contract before she’s able to look elsewhere. After what she’s been through with White, it’d be understandable if she has no interest in coming back at all.
White’s “bullying,” she said, has not only severely damaged her brand as a fighter over the years, but has also sparked attacks against her family.
“I'm suffering bullying,” Cyborg said, via ESPN. “Where is the code that you don't do this? He is the boss. How does the boss make fun of your athlete? It's a girl, say she has a penis, she's a guy.
“You have to have rules. This is not right. I have a daughter, I have a mom, I have a dad. My daughter had a problem in school already because of this.”
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