Tuesday 3 September 2019 21:27, UK
Bellator have signed Cristiane 'Cyborg' Justino to a multi-year, multi-fight deal - the largest of its kind in women's MMA history.
'Cyborg' (21-2, 1 NC) has joined Bellator following a three-year run in UFC in which she won multiple world titles and a 20-fight unbeaten streak that included notable victories against Holly Holm, Tonya Evinger, Marloes Coenen and Leslie Smith.
The 34-year-old Curitiba, Brazil-native was the inaugural Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Champion, defeating Gina Carano for the title in 2009.
She joins current champ Julia Budd, Olga Rubin, Arlene Blencowe, Janay Harding and Leslie Smith among others, cementing Bellator's 145-pound weight class as the strongest women's featherweight division in MMA.
"I have worked with countless athletes over my thirty-plus years of promoting combat sports, but there is no one quite like 'Cyborg'," Bellator president Scott Coker said.
"Her ability to excite the crowd from the moment she makes her walk to the cage is special, and having had the pleasure of promoting several of her fights in the past, I am looking forward to the opportunity of promoting her once again.
"'Cyborg' is the most dominant female fighter in the history of the sport and she will be a perfect fit here at Bellator, where champion Julia Budd and the other women that make up best female featherweight division in the world have eagerly awaited her arrival."
