Q&A with Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg

Cris Cyborg just made the first defense of her Bellator featherweight title in October at Bellator 249. In that fight, which headlined the event, Cyborg went right through Arlene Blencowe on way to a second-round submission victory.

Cyborg (23-2, 1NC) has recently been relaxing in her home country of Brazil, but she took time out of her schedule to discuss her Bellator 249 victory and the future of Bellator’s rising 145-pound division with MyMMANews.

Coming into your matchup with Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 249, everyone was making a big deal at her ability to box and many thought she could give you problems on the feet. Well as we know, she didn’t because you went out there and out boxed the boxer. How much time did you spend focusing on your standup for the fight?

Arlene Blencowe is a time-two World Boxing Champion and because of her resume I knew I needed to train hard for the fight. I had already been training with Vergil Ortiz Sr. because we had anticipated me making my professional boxing debut in 2020, unfortunately with the pandemic our plans where delayed a little, but because Arlene had so much boxing experience it was a great opportunity to bring Coach Vergil into my camp even though we where focusing on an MMA fight.

You ended up finishing her by a submission. Take us through the finishing sequence and did you know it was over once you locked in the rear-naked choke?

I have been a BJJ Brown Belt for over 8 years, and during the training camp we worked a lot on being able to finish this fight via submission. I knew that if I was given the opportunity I could win by choke.

How did you celebrate your first Bellator featherweight title defense?

I celebrated my victory by sharing the blessings, after the fight I helped a gym in Brazil that focuses on at risk youth receive new tatame mats and kimonos for the children in their BJJ programs.

The featherweight division is growing in Bellator. The promotion has yourself, Julia Budd, a new signee in Cat Zingano and now Janay Harding just picked up a huge win. Where do you see the future of this division going and do you think it’s slowly turning into a premiere division in the sport?

I have always said 145-pounds will one day be recognized as the most talent rich division in WMMA, there are a lot of talented female fighters competing with Bellator MMA in the Featherweight division and I’m excited to watch the sport continue to grow.

Julia Budd and Cat Zingano are coming off big wins. Do you think one of those two is next for you or do you think Scott Coker will go a different route?

I never pick my opponents. I have no problem fighting anyone and will leave it up to my management.

When do you want to fight again?

I would like to fight in the first quarter of 2021 after I have had time to enjoy the holidays.

Kayla Harrison has recently been testing the waters at 145-pounds. Clarissa Shields has recently announced that she is going to transition into mixed martial arts. Do you see them eventually coming over to Bellator to have a blockbuster fight with you?

I think Clarissa has signed a long term deal with the PFL. She is a talented fighter and I look forward to seeing her MMA career succeed. I think Kayla has gained a lot of experience already and is ready to step up the level of her competition. I believe a fight between the two of us would be fun for the fans even if it happened as a cross promotion fight between Bellator MMA and the PFL.

Aside from fighting you have your highly successful YouTube channel (Cris Cyborg). What exciting content can all your fans expect to see from you in the future?

We just filmed an interview with Murilo Ninja Rua the legend from PRIDE FC and older brother of Shogun, we will also have some content coming out from my recent trip to Brazil. We are always trying to bring the fans an inside look at my life by producing new and exciting content.

It’s Christmas time. How do you plan on celebrating your holiday season?

It seems the past couple of years I have had fights scheduled around the holiday season, so this year it will be a nice time where I will be able to relax and focus on family and friends.

Finally, what’s your favorite Christmas memory?

For me family is always a big part of my life. I think my favorite Christmas memory would just be that of spending it with my family and being thankful for the many blessings we have received.