Cris Cyborg: Bellator 238 fight against Julia Budd will be ‘one of the greatest fights in WMMA history’

Cris Cyborg believes her upcoming fight against Julia Budd will be one of the best ever.

In the main event of Bellator 238, Cyborg is making her promotional debut and challenging for the featherweight title. It will no doubt be a tough fight for Cyborg. Yet, she is eager for the challenge and the opportunity to headline the card.

“I am excited to headline Bellator 238 against Julia Budd. She is eight years undefeated and champion in the most established, deepest female featherweight division in the sport,” Cyborg said to BJPENN.com. “I am excited to have to opportunity to become the first Grand Slam champion in MMA by capturing all four of the major world championships in my weight class.”

For Cris Cyborg, when she signed with Bellator she didn’t know if her debut would be an instant title shot. But, now that it is, she is happy as she is always looking for the biggest fights possible.

“I never pick my opponents. I want to make the biggest fights possible for my fans. There were some big fights that my previous promoter was unable to make happen, and I find it motivating that [Scott] Coker is already setting me up with a premier fight headlining an event in my adopted hometown in the USA.”

Part of the reason why Cyborg also decided to sign with Bellator was because of their featherweight division. She knows the Viacom-owned promotion has better 145-pound talent and is eager to fight true featherweights.

She also believes the promotion could do a grand prix at featherweight and is interested in the thought of that.

“The UFC has gone more than a year without the female featherweight belt being defended. I think Felicia Spencer would be their number one contender and then there is Megan Anderson,” Cyborg said on the differences between Bellator’s and UFC featherweight division. “Three fighters don’t really make a featherweight division. Bellator could do a Grand Prix at 145 pounds and have half the brackets with fighters ranked in the top 10 in the world at featherweight with just the girls they already have under contract.”

Although she is thinking ahead, Cris Cyborg knows she has a job to do on Saturday and is focused on that. She understands the challenges Budd presents her, but she is confident she will get her hand raised.

She expects to win the belt in one of the greatest women’s bouts ever.

“I think it will be a good fight and fans will end up remembering it as one of the greatest fights in WMMA history,” she explained. “I have trained hard and Julia Budd is a long time undefeated champion coming to prove something to the world. This will be a must-watch fight.”

Cris Cyborg is more than ready to become the new Bellator champion. After that, the goal for 2020 and beyond is simple.

“Have fun and continue to remain healthy while I continue to do what I love. I want to fight consistently in the next two years and give my fans the biggest fights possible. While also helping establish Bellator’s 145 pounds as the premier featherweight division for women,” she concluded. 

What do you make of Cris Cyborg saying her fight against Julia Budd will be one of the greatest WMMA fights of all time?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/20/2020.