Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg explained in a recent interview how leaving the UFC for Bellator saved her MMA career.

Cyborg was the former UFC women’s featherweight champion, but after losing her belt to Amanda Nunes, her relationship with the UFC and its president Dana White started to worsen. After Cyborg beat Felicia Spencer in 2019, the UFC released her from her contract after White said she was not easy to work with. Not long after that, Cyborg signed with Bellator, where she has been competing ever since with four wins, all of them by stoppage.

Speaking to AG Fight in a recent interview, Cyborg admitted that while she isn’t happy with the way that things played out for her in the UFC, ultimately things worked out well for her. With Cyborg in Bellator and flourishing, she is content with how her career has played out.

“I’m grateful to the UFC for the opportunity, but the fire in my heart was going out there. It was too uncomfortable, too disrespectful. Bellator put more firewood, I’m happier, I fight more. I have no problem outside (the cage), working with Scott (Coker) is cool, respects the athletes. You have to give yourself respect to be respected. I always respected where I was, but I wasn’t reciprocated in the same way,” Cyborg said. “I don’t regret (going to the UFC). I learned a lot in the UFC, it was one more thing to conquer and being there was something very important. But I already went to the UFC being ‘Cyborg’, the UFC didn’t make me there. I arrived made. I was never welcomed from the start, but my fans campaigned and achieved this along with me. I had good moments.”

Where do you rank Cris Cyborg among the greatest women’s MMA fighters of all time?