HONOLULU – Former UFC title challenger Sara McMann has her eyes on the Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, but won’t wait around for her return.
At Bellator 294, McMann (14-6 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) had a successful promotional debut in a featherweight victory over former title challenger Arlene Blencowe. It was a dominant display that earned a pair of 10-8 scores from the official cageside judges, as McMann cruised to a unanimous decision. It was the first time in her professional career to compete at 145 pounds, and McMann performed phenomenally.
“I can say not dehydrating absolutely made a difference,” McMann told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight news conference. “Not in my mindset, because in the third round of every fight, I’m like, ‘We gotta go.’ But when you’re hydrated, I’ll tell my body, ‘We gotta go,’ and then it just freakin’ went. So, that’s a huge difference, and to me, maybe I should have made this decision earlier, I don’t know.
“I always felt good at 135 (pounds), but now that I’m at ’45, I know that I’m strong enough to handle the difference in their weight. I just stay where I feel the best. I probably weigh 146 right now.”
Now that she has arrived in Bellator, and made a statement in her debut, McMann is ready to accomplish her championship aspirations. The current champion of the divsion is Cyborg (26-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), but hasn’t defended her title since defeating Blencowe a year ago.
McMann would love to challenge who she considers one of the “top 3 or top 5” female fighters of all time, but time isn’t on her side, and won’t sit around for too long hoping that dream matchup to come together.
“I think that it would be great to beat Cyborg to be the Bellator champion,” McMann said. “When I came to this division, that is what I set my heart on. That, to me, is such a worthy accomplishment, you know? I have total respect for her, and I still want to beat her. But if she’s making different decisions as far as financially or what direction, I can’t sit around and wait.
“I’m not 22, I’m 42. I’m going to fight who they put in front of me, and the division shouldn’t wait for her forever. She’s a dominant champion, but they should have a real belt after a certain period of time, and then she should have to come back and earn the belt. For me, I think of it as, ‘I’ll fight her sooner, or I’ll fight her later.’”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 294.