According to a Feb. 15 report from MMA Fighting, Cris "Cyborg" Santos has signed with Invicta FC and is set to make her promotional debut on the Apr. 5 card at the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.
Santos, 27, will be fighting Ediane Gomes, who was originally slated to duke it out with Julia "The Jewel" Budd.
The winner of Santos vs Gomes will apparently receive a title shot at Invicta FC 6 against the legendary 145-pound striker Marloes Coenen.
While Gomes will have to make a significant adjustment to fight Santos instead of Budd, it's "The Jewel" who is really getting the short end of the stick in Cyborg's Invicta FC signing.
If Budd would have beaten Gomes, she would have had the opportunity to fight Coenen in July at the Invicta FC 6 event, for the chance to put Invicta's 145-pound strap around her waist.
Instead, she has agreed to fight 35-year-old Aussie Fiona Muxlow, in a bout that has no real title implications.
Budd is clearly the unsung hero in Santos' Invicta FC signing, as she took the move in stride and didn't complain about it like many others would have.
Instead of complaining about the situation, Budd took the high road. She took to Twitter to thank Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp for not taking her off the card completely, when she could have easily bashed the organization for making such a bold move.
"Want to personally thank @IndiaGomesMMA & @JuliaBudd for being flexible and giving us the opportunity to get Cris Cyborg on April event. :)," Knapp responded.
MMA fans can't blame Invicta FC for making the move to sign Santos when they did, as the deal may not have still been available if they waited until July for the IFC 6 card to come together.
Hopefully the promotion will thank Budd for being a true team player by putting her in a good position for a title shot sometime in the near future.
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