Scott Coker on Cris Cyborg’s Bellator standing: “We anticipate to deliver her again right here sooner or later this yr”

Bellator President Scott Coker has given an replace on Cris Cyborg’s future with the promotion.

Cris Cyborg is the reigning Bellator Ladies’s Featherweight Champion, however she hasn’t been seen in professional MMA motion since April 2022. Whereas she’s acknowledged as a Bellator titleholder, Cyborg is a free agent. She has been contained in the boxing ring throughout her free company, however hasn’t dedicated to an MMA promotion.

Coker spoke to reporters through the Bellator 293 post-fight press convention and he shared a standing replace on Cyborg’s future with Bellator (by way of MMAJunkie).

“I’m undecided what Cat heard as a result of I didn’t speak to her straight, however I can let you know this: From the corporate standpoint, this was all the time a three-round elimination combat for the No. 1 contender spot. Cyborg remains to be the present champion. We nonetheless have her underneath contract proper now. We now have her underneath a rights provision. We’re negotiating together with her, and we anticipate to deliver her again right here sooner or later this yr. To me, that now’s going to be an important combat. Hopefully we’ll put this along with Cris within the subsequent couple weeks, and her and Cat, we might work on an enormous combat for the 2 of them to combat for Cris’ belt. I don’t know the place this bought misplaced, however, from our perspective, it’s all the time been a three-round elimination combat.”

Not too long ago, top-ranked Bellator girls’s featherweight Cat Zingano expressed confusion over Cyborg’s standing with the corporate.

“She’s not even with the promotion, so I don’t understand how you duck somebody,” Zingano mentioned. “She tells me to signal a contract, however she has two contracts to signal to even get again within the promotion. I really feel like she’s sort of a loopy girl yelling from the road nook proper now, simply making an attempt to get anybody to speak to her, anybody to concentrate to her. She’s all the time complaining. She’s all the time bought one thing unfavorable to say.”