Cris Cyborg Mauls Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 222, Calls for Amanda Nunes Next
To almost no one’s surprise, Cris Cyborg needed less than a round to walk through Yana Kunitskaya in the UFC 222 main event on Saturday night.
While the lopsided result was expected, Cyborg did accept the fight on very short notice when the UFC needed a headline fight for the card following an injury to featherweight champion Max Holloway.
While she was an overwhelming favorite, Cyborg did endure a little trouble early on when Kunitskaya rushed out of the gate and took the fight to the ground almost immediately.
For a brief second, Kunitskaya even looked to take the back, but Cyborg quickly scrambled out of the position, worked her way back to the feet and then reset in the center of the Octagon.
From there it was all Cyborg as she began bombing Kunitskaya with punches and the Russian fighter absolutely did not enjoy that. Cyborg finally uncorked a straight right hand down the middle that popped Kunitskaya directly in the face before she dropped to the ground.
CYBORG!!!@CrisCyborg gets it done at #UFC222 in the FIRST ROUND!! pic.twitter.com/JRdd766Yv5
— UFC (@ufc) March 4, 2018
Cyborg continued with a barrage of punches on the ground until the referee saw enough and decided to rescue her from the unmitigated assault. The fight was officially stopped at 3:25 into the first round.
Following the win, Cyborg turned her attention to UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, who she was previously rumored to face before this matchup came together at the last minute.
"When you call Cyborg out, you have to handle it." @CrisCyborg wants @Amanda_Leoa next ?
Who else just got legitimately scared? #UFC222 pic.twitter.com/yhHVTXguwP
— UFC (@ufc) March 4, 2018
“I’ll wait for Amanda [Nunes]. Amanda’s calling me out,” Cyborg said. “Now I’m here waiting on her. I know Brazil against Brazil, for me it’s sad, but Dana White wants to make this fight and she called me out.
“When you call Cyborg out, you have to handle it. ”
Nunes has her hands full right now with a fight against Raquel Pennington expected to take place at UFC 224 in Brazil in May. If Nunes wins, it’s possible she will face Cyborg in a super fight later this year in a champion versus champion showdown.
