Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg doesn’t mind calling her next shot, but Bellator president Scott Coker seems lukewarm to the idea at the moment.
After a fifth-round TKO against Leslie Smith at Bellator 259 last weekend, Cris Cyborg’s performance displayed her violent style of fighting. Following her title defense, Cyborg called out the fighting veteran and rising Bellator contender, Cat Zingano.
The 16-fight veteran transitioned to the Bellator promotion from the UFC and picked up her first win against Gabrielle Holloway in her debut last September. Then the rising featherweight solidified her standing in the division when she finished Olivia Parker by armbar just over a month ago. Cat Zingano’s armbar win was her first finish in nearly seven years.
While Bellator president Scott Coker believes Cat Zingano will compete for the title, the boss wasn’t ready to pull the trigger on an imminent matchup with Cris Cyborg. Following Bellator 259, Scott Coker spoke about the women’s featherweight landscape.
“That’s one of the reasons we brought her here,” Coker told reporters following Friday’s event. “She has a win over Amanda Nunes so I think it’s something where she came over here to fight Cyborg. She’s had a couple of fights and she feels pretty good about it.”
The Bellator president seems confident that Zingano is on the right path and has a solid record, but he wasn’t quite ready to give the potential title fight the stamp of approval.
“Will we do that fight next? I’m not sure but we’ll definitely have a conversation about it next week with everybody.” Scott Coker said.
With two wins in the promotion, the Bellator president is ready to have a conversation about the possibility of giving Zingano the fight. However, at the same time, he acknowledged that every fighter who enters the promotion is eager to get a shot at one of the baddest women in the world.
“Just like Leslie, there’s girls who call us up all the time and say, ‘I want to fight Cyborg,’” Coker said. “It doesn’t stop. It keeps coming so, listen, these ladies want to challenge themselves. They want to fight the world’s best and they know she’s the GOAT. They all have a bullseye for her.”
One thing is for sure, after Cyborg’s recent TKO win over Smith, fans are salivating to see the featherweight juggernaut compete once again. With two successful title defenses, surely the promotion will be having a talk with the champion soon. After all, Cyborg seems more than willing to get back in the cage and the challenger is calling for it too.
Do you believe Cat Zingano has earned a shot against Cris Cyborg?
