One would think that a relationship between a fighter once considered the greatest women's mixed martial artist of all time and the biggest MMA promotion in the world would be an ideal match.
Well, it wasn't. Not even close.
Cris Cyborg and the UFC never seemed to get along, and her three-year run with the company ended last week, when president Dana White said he was "out of the Cyborg business" and allowed her to hit the open market.
What the heck happened? Wouldn't a Cyborg rematch with two-division champ Amanda Nunes have meant big bucks for all involved?
This was one topic discussed in this week's Ariel & The Bad Guy episode, streamed exclusively on ESPN+.
Ariel Helwani: Oh, did you see that, Chael? They had to show the clip of us both saying that she was coming back. I mean, really? Way to make us look bad on that one, but it's fine. I'll own up to it. And by the way, I only said it because you said it first.
But anyway, this is a very complex one. And honestly, my head is hurting, my head is spinning over this one because exactly this time last week, I thought Cyborg was playing her cards very well. For the first time, it felt like Cyborg was a sympathetic character. This was someone who back in the day, Chael, when she tested positive for PEDs in 2011, she was viewed as a villain. She was viewed as the person who kicked the lovable Gina Carano out of the sport, right? She was a cheater. Everyone didn't like her. And now here we are, eight years later, and she's viewed as a sympathetic figure. And a lot of people are saying, 'Oh, you're lying about her. You're not telling the truth. You're being disingenuous about her intent to get this rematch.' That's this time last week. And then she comes out with this video of this interaction with her and Dana White backstage in Edmonton, and then we come to find out that she doctored the video, that she made up the subtitles. That is just, like, what are you doing? You have him in the palm of your hand. You've got the people behind you, and you come out with this video? You didn't have to come out with this video. You didn't have to touch this video. Don't even show the interaction. It's already out there, and you make up the subtitles? What were you guys thinking?
This is one of the greatest missteps of all time. And now, you allow the president of the UFC to come out and essentially take down your market value and say we're not going to match so that all the other promotions know that there's not going to be a bidding war. This was a massive misstep. The fans turned on her afterward, and it's just an unfortunate turn of events. And it's kind of fitting the relationship ends this way because it was sort of a forced, uncomfortable marriage from the beginning, and quite frankly, I'm sort of over the whole thing.
Chael Sonnen: Ariel, I've stayed along every part of this story except for that very end of what you said about it being dysfunctional from the beginning. I saw it, but I couldn't figure out why. They wanted her really bad.
This goes all the way back to Lorenzo Fertitta, who was writing the checks for her when she was in Invicta. I don't know if you know that story -- he was writing the checks to make sure Cyborg could get some opponents to make sure Cyborg could stay busy. Shannon Knapp over at Invicta helped to grow a division so they could ultimately bring women's featherweights and Cyborg, specifically, to the UFC. So this was very interesting, the nice things that were done to roll that out.
Now let's go back a week. She was in the perfect position. There is some gamesmanship in this sport, but everybody knows it, and everybody is supportive enough to play by the same rules. Let me give you an example: Should you run out your contract, do your last fight, which is not what a promotion wants -- Scott Coker doesn't want it, Dana White doesn't want it -- it's just not what they want you to do. It does change some of the negotiation. It also changes what you're going to do next. Look, Cyborg, if we're going to put you in here with Felicia Spencer, and should you get the win on her but we don't have a contract, it kind of makes it tough for me to then announce your next fight at the postfight news conference. ... Cyborg did that. She also won, and the fight they wanted her to come back for was a world title fight. Ariel, she had it all. As far as this goes, as far as the leverage goes, she had it all. And yes, to your point, that video -- I don't know what they were thinking. I don't know if they thought that was clever. I don't know if, look, she got her feelings hurt, something along those lines. When Dana had said she didn't want to fight Amanda, if that's what caused this bad decision. I trust that it wasn't Cyborg in an editing room doing it herself. I trust that it was her team. It just didn't need to be done. It was a really, really big mistake, Ariel.
Helwani: Yeah, and that's the travesty, right? Because I agree with you: I don't think Cyborg actually sat there and edited that video and decided to put it out. I think her team has done it. And let's just address the elephant in the room. Cyborg at times, her social media is a little bit questionable. Even last night, Dana White comes out and does a scrum after Contender Series, and all of a sudden there's a tweet, 'Hey, Dana White is going to call us to talk about a contract.' And guess what? Moments later the tweet was deleted. I don't know who's running that page, but they need to take a step back and recognize that they're actually hurting Cyborg at this point. It's obvious. Everyone talks about it in MMA media. It's like this elephant that no one wants to address. Something is going on with that social media page of hers, whether it's Twitter, Instagram, they need to take a step back and let her be her because she's a very likable person, she's a philanthropist, she's someone who as I said last week does great things for kids in Uganda, in Brazil. Let her be her and enough with the pot-stirring because you are not helping her at this point, and I do believe that now her market value has taken a hit because Bellator, PFL, Rizin, ONE, they all know they won't have to bargain against the UFC, so they're going to try and low-ball her.
It's a very unfortunate turn of events. And you know what's really making me sad about all of this? It could have been much better. It could have been a big fight, a big rematch. It could have been great. Like, she could have been one of the faces of the UFC. I really believe in her that much. And now we have to listen to this narrative that she didn't want the rematch, that she didn't want the contract. All this stuff, it's all hogwash. They just messed up at the end, and unfortunately for them, the UFC had enough, and quite frankly, I don't blame them because who wants to do business with someone who is going to make up stuff like that?
Sonnen: It's a very tough spot, and if you're looking to promote a fighter, you got to get those deals done. It's a double edge, and I'm saying this for all the young fighters that watch this -- anybody that thinks they want to run their contract out, there is a game to that, there's a way that can be played, but Ariel, it's risky. You kind of want that security because you want the promoter to know he's got you under contract so he can build you, so that he can go and do something next.
Helwani: And I will say, she played it pretty well up until that point. But then you can't put out fake videos, especially against the boss.
Sonnen: Right -- until that point!
Helwani: Yesss!
Sonnen: Everything was going great! Everything was going great! She's a free agent. She gets to go and sit down, and by the way, they want her for a world title fight. C'mon, everything was going so well.
Helwani: You had all the leverage, all the momentum -- and then you put out a fake video? Come on. What are you thinking? Geez ...