Doctored footage behind UFC bombshell

LESS than a week after Cris Cyborg defeated Felicia Spencer in an action-packed fight at UFC 240 and resumed her campaign for a rematch against women's champion Amanda Nunes, her tumultuous relationship with the UFC is over.

It appears some devious video editing may have played a part.

After UFC president Dana White and the Brazilian MMA fighter went back and forth in the media about her future, White dropped a bombshell in a sit-down interview with ESPN.

He claimed Cyborg didn't really want to fight Nunes and was no longer required by the promotion.

"All this other bulls*** that she's putting out there - again, to avoid fighting Amanda Nunes," White said.

"Message received. I get it. I'm going to release her from her contract. I will not match any offers.

It would seem Cris Cyborg has lost her UFC gig. Picture: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images

"She is free and clear to go to Bellator or any of these other organisations and fight these easy fights that she wants. Done. Done deal. I will literally today have my lawyer draft a letter to her team that she is free and clear to go wherever she wants. We're out of the Cyborg business."

"This is a woman that doesn't want to fight (Amanda Nunes) no matter what she says," White added.

"I am giving up my rights to her contract, to matching her contract to anything. I'm giving it up. There you go. You're not being bullied. Nothing like that. I'm going to let you go. If you don't want to fight Amanda and you don't want to be here that bad, then why would I want you here?"

My interview with @laura_sanko is up . If you give a shit, link: https://t.co/IGUnSm6BvX pic.twitter.com/80Y7QYLwKL
— Dana White (@danawhite) August 2, 2019

But it appears Cyborg may have also dug her own grave by doctoring vision of a conversation she had with White after UFC 240 that was posted to her social media accounts. After news of her axeing broke, she posted this apology.

View this post on Instagram

Hey guys, I know that many people saw the video of my confrontation with Dana White after UFC 240 that was posted on my official YouTube channel, Twitter account and Instagram account. I want to let everyone know that the video was edited by my Production Team to make it appear as though Dana told me “and listen whenever you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying …the truth.” Dana did not say that to me, and the subtitles in the video were incorrect. As you can see from the unedited video, Dana actually said “and listen, whenever you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying negative things about you.” Dana and I have had many disagreements during my career in the UFC, and I have been adamant about standing up for myself in situations where I feel my character and statements have been misrepresented and used against me. But I also take pride in being an honest person and a true professional. I take full responsibility for the actions that resulted in the edited video being posted on my social media accounts. We were wrong, and I have addressed this issue with my Production Team so that it doesn’t ever happen again in the future. Finally, I want to apologize to Dana White for posting the video. Even though we will continue to disagree about numerous issues, I will always stand up for doing what is right. •••••••••

A post shared by ®️Cristiane Justino (@criscyborg) on Aug 2, 2019 at 5:05pm PDT

Bellator president Scott Coker told MMA Junkie that Cyborg becoming a free agent was "great news".

"I'll be calling (Cyborg's manager) Audie (Attar) in the next five minutes," Coker said. "Cyborg isn't afraid of anybody."

Cyborg was riding a 20-fight undefeated streak when she was knocked out in 51 seconds by Nunes at UFC 232 last year.

The 34-year-old has a rough history with White, largely because she spent a large part of her career fighting for rival promotions Strikeforce and Invicta while the UFC was trumpeting Ronda Rousey as the baddest woman on the planet.

White made disparaging remarks about her appearance and despite a 6-1 record with the UFC it appears her next bout will be elsewhere.

There's really no reason for UFC to be in the Cyborg business. If both sides prefer not to work together, what's the issue?
— JE Snowden (@JESnowden) August 2, 2019

Not so long ago, there was a strong argument that Cris Cyborg & Demetrious Johnson were the best female and male fighters in the world respectively.

The UFC has let both of them go in the last year.

— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) August 2, 2019

Dana White is going to continually say that Cris Cyborg was afraid of Amanda Nunes. We should always remember the real story and not let his fiction become widely accepted.
— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) August 2, 2019

I’ll say this about the whole Dana/Cyborg thing, which I’m just catching up on now, and people will say this is just my bias to Dana speaking, but I think it’s a bit crazy to see how the media is already COMPLETELY decidedly sure who is in the right and wrong here.
— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) August 2, 2019