Bellator Re-Signs Featherweight Champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino

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— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) May 4, 2023

Bellator MMA is holding on tight to its dominant women’s 145 champ.

The organization announced on Thursday that it had come to terms with champion Cristiane Justino (26-2, 1 NC), whose contract had concluded after her most recent defense in April 2022. After a pair of boxing matches for the Brazilian powerhouse, “Cris Cyborg” signed a new, exclusive deal with Bellator. The specifics have not been stated, other than that it was a multi-fight contract.

Justino was elated in her new arrangement with the promotion, saying in the press release, “After receiving multiple offers from several promotions I’m very happy that I was able to come to terms with Bellator and remain the face of their women’s featherweight division. Scott Coker is a promoter that I’ve worked with and respected for many years. He’s done so much to further women’s MMA and give us a platform to showcase our skills. When making this decision, it was important to me that I was signing with the organization that I felt had the biggest names and the top talent at 145 pounds for me to challenge myself against. There is no question that all the top female featherweights are signed with Bellator and I can’t wait to get back in there and defend my belt.”

She initially joined the league back in 2020, making her Bellator debut by dethroning longtime featherweight queen Julia Budd by fourth-round knockout. Since then, “Cris Cyborg” has rattled off four straight defenses, including three stoppages, to reach the company record of the most championship wins (five) for any female Bellator fighter. She remains just three finishes shy of Ilima-Lei Macfarlane’s women’s divisional record of seven.

While “Cris Cyborg” has lobbied for a pairing with fellow 145er Cat Zingano, the 37-year-old first match on this new contract – and her fifth title defense attempt – has not yet been made official. Bellator head Scott Coker spoke of the signing but not her next fight, stating, “It’s not every day you have the opportunity to re-sign the greatest women’s mixed martial artist to ever compete in the sport, but that’s exactly what we have done with Cris Cyborg. There is no female athlete who can match what Cris has done inside or out of the cage and my favorite part about Cris is her continued willingness to take on all comers.”