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Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino makes MMA history in debut Bellator fight

Cris “Cyborg” Justino has become the first MMA fighter to claim four major organistion belts after a stellar debut bout in the Bellator.

AP
2 min read
January 26, 2020 - 10:07PM
Insane body shot knockout

Cris “Cyborg” Justino has won the Bellator featherweight championship, becoming the first fighter to claim title belts in four major MMA organisations with a fourth-round stoppage of Julia Budd at Bellator 238.

In her Bellator debut after seven bouts and three-plus years with the UFC, Justino (22-2) ended Budd’s eight-year winning streak and dethroned Bellator’s long-reigning 145-pound champion with brute style in Los Angeles on Sunday.

After surviving some rough early stretches and eventually asserting her physical dominance, Justino ended it with a flurry of kicks and punches on the fence. She dropped Budd for good with a blow to the body and finished on the ground before jumping onto the fence to celebrate with the crowd at the Forum.

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Fighting in the same arena where she had her biggest professional setback — a 51-second loss to UFC two-belt champion Amanda Nunes in December 2018 — the 34-year-old Cyborg showed she hasn’t lost the quick, heavy hands that made her the best fighter in women’s mixed martial arts.

“It’s so amazing,” Cyborg said. “I lost my belt here at the Forum, and then I got another one.”

Justino was a champion in Strikeforce and Invicta before she finally moved to the UFC and swiftly became its first women’s featherweight champion in 2017.

After losing her UFC title 13 months ago and leaving the promotion with acrimony last year, the Brazilian star signed with Bellator and got an immediate shot to become the first man or woman to hold titles in four major promotions.

Budd (13-3) had won 11 consecutive fights since Ronda Rousey defeated her with an armbar back in 2011. The British Columbia native became Bellator’s first women’s featherweight champion in 2017 and defended the belt three times, but Cyborg was too much.

Cyborg with her fourth major MMA belt
Cyborg with her fourth major MMA belt

Budd actually dropped Cyborg with strikes midway through the opening round, but escaped the jam when Budd illegally threw a knee while Cyborg was downed. After Cyborg landed better shots in a slower second round, Cyborg dropped Budd with a right hand midway through the third and controlled the rest of the round.

Justino signed with Bellator in September after her UFC contract ran out. She won six fights in the UFC and became the promotion’s first 145-pound women’s champion.

But her lone UFC loss was that spectacular thrashing from Nunes, who ended Justino’s 21-fight unbeaten streak since 2005.

Nunes claimed Cyborg’s featherweight belt and made a pointed argument for her supremacy over Justino as the greatest fighter in women’s MMA history.

Originally published as Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino makes MMA history in debut Bellator fight

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