White Shuts Down Cyborg Rematch

I guess this offer is off the table.

What’s next for Amanda Nunes?

One thing we know for certain: It won’t be a featherweight rematch against former 145-pound champion Cris Justino. Not because UFC President Dana White has a personal beef with the Brazilian, but rather because “Cyborg” got “absolutely dominated” by Nunes when they first went to war back in Dec. 2018.

“Amanda absolutely dominated Cyborg,” White told reporters on Tuesday night (via MMA Junkie). “The (Valentina) Shevchenko fight makes way more sense, and I’m not just shitting on Cyborg because we’ve had history. She actually texted me and wished me a happy birthday for my birthday. It’s not like Cyborg and I hate each other and I’m not trying to discredit her or be mean to her. I wish her the best in whatever she’s doing. It was nice of her to send me a birthday text. So I just wanted to reiterate that I am not shitting on Cyborg.”

White has a long and uncomfortable history of shitting on Cyborg so I’m not sure why this would be any different. Not that it matters, since the former Strikeforce featherweight champion is back with Scott Coker under the Bellator MMA banner, where the 38 year-old Justino has racked up six straight wins with four finishes.

As for Nunes, she managed to secure two close decision wins over still-pisssed flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, though it remains to be seen if “Bullet” moves back to 135 pounds because “Lioness” has yet to answer the call of rising bantamweight contender and fellow Brazilian bruiser Ketlen Vieira.