Scott Coker: Cris Cyborg always had ability to box in her Bellator agreement

HONOLULU – Bellator president Scott Coker is willing to accommodate Cris Cyborg’s desire to box after Bellator 279.

After retaining her featherweight title against Arlene Blencowe on Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Cyborg (25-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) turned her attention to boxing, something she’s wanted to pursue for a long time.

When asked about Cyborg’s plan to take a boxing match next, Coker said it’s an agreement the pair had from the get-go, so he won’t dismiss it.

“I think that’s really gonna be up to her,” Coker told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the Bellator 279 post-fight press conference. “And I’ll be honest with you, I don’t want to get into too much detail, but it’s always been an agreement that we had with her that she could box at any time in our contract with her.

“So she could box whether it was a year ago or eight months ago, she always had the ability to box in her agreement, so maybe it’s something she wants to try or she wants to fight. I know she wants to fight some of the top girls in boxing, so maybe that’s something she wants to do. I’m not sure.”

Cyborg, who is expected to become a free agent this summer, has run through the competition in Bellator by finishing Julia Budd (to win the title), Arlene Blencowe, Leslie Smith, and Sinead Kavanagh before beating Blencowe by dominant unanimous decision in their rematch.

Should Cyborg lace up boxing gloves, Coker is confident that she’d do well.

“I thought she looked great tonight, and I think if she wanted to really box, I think she’d be very, very effective,” Coker said.

Check out the full post-fight interview with Coker in the video above.