Win Or Lose, Cris Cyborg Should Retire After Sara Collins Fight

At the same time, however, Cyborg also attracted controversy. Casuals will point to when she failed a drug test after a fight, which got her win overturned and the Strikeforce belt that she held vacated. That scandal also drew comments of her “looking like a man” – something that Ronda Rousey herself supported.

There is also the matter of Cyborg’s complicated relationship with president Dana White when she was in the UFC. It can be said that he was particularly pleased when Amanda Nunes won the featherweight title from her to end 2018. For him, it meant no longer having to deal with a personal headache whom he once called “Wanderlei Silva in a dress and heels”.

The Last Run?

That was not Cyborg’s last fight in the Octagon, however. Nearly seven months later, she defeated Felicia Spencer by decision, completing her contract. With her relationship with White very strained, she understandably left.

Bellator was the obvious next destination, and Cyborg immediately proved dominant. She won the featherweight title in her debut and notched five defenses before the promotion was absorbed into the PFL. Since then, however, she has fought in MMA just once, defeating Larissa Pacheco by decision before rejoining the boxing world.

This leads back to Collins. While already 35 years old, she is young in terms of MMA experience, having fought just six times in five years. Her last three wins, however, have solidified her as a top contender – former Invicta champion Pam Sorenson, former challenger Sinead Kavanagh, and veteran Leah McCourt.

Cyborh herself is even older, having turned 40 in July. Even though she has remained dominant in her time after the UFC, the mileage has accumulated, and no one beats Father Time.

There is also the question of what is next for her. If she wins, who can realistically challenge her? She has defeated nearly all her division’s contenders. The PFL could do a rematch if she loses, but will she risk destroying her already-divisive legacy with a first-ever skid?

Thus, there is no question about it: Cyborg should retire after this fight. She has nothing left to prove, just as Nunes seemingly did when she first walked away in 2023.

End Of My Cris Cyborg Rant

With Cyborg’s presumptive retirement also comes the end of something else: women’s featherweight as an MMA division. There are very few fighters left there, if any, and most of them may feel compelled to drop to bantamweight to reach the big stage, specifically the UFC.

Women’s featherweight was never the deepest division while it existed, but it did generate attention. Perhaps enough that Dana White instituted it first before women’s flyweight. Cyborg and Collins are the last of that dying breed, and their clash will serve as a final gift to the few who have cared about them…