Scott Coker was working toward fulfilling Cris Cyborg’s desire to compete in a professional boxing match, but now he wants the Bellator champ to defend her belt.

Cyborg (22-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) claimed the featherweight title in January with a unanimous decision win over Julia Budd at Bellator 238. The fight marked her promotional debut following a dramatic UFC tenure, and afterwards, the new champion expressed her hopes to step into a boxing ring sooner than later.

That wish apparently gained some traction behind the scenes, because Coker revealed he was in talks to have Cyborg face a top-tier boxer. But then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and those plans were derailed.

“We were going to try to have her box right now against one of the world champion boxers,” Coker told MMA Junkie. “I talked to (Cyborg’s manager) Audie (Attar) about a week ago and I said, and he agreed, he actually brought it up when we talked about her competing in boxing, I said, ‘With everything that’s going on and this big pause in this combat sports schedule, I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to have her box because we need to have her fight in MMA.'”

After postponing events from March through June, Coker said Bellator is tentatively planning to resume fight cards in July, although it could take longer. As one of the top names in the company, Cyborg is surely going to be a needed asset for the organization as it attempts to make up for lost time in the latter half of the year.

Coker said he’s not sure who Cyborg’s next opponent will be. A number of options have come to mind, but he said he’s yet to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together.

“If you look at 145-pound weight class, I think there’s two or three girls that would love to fight her,” Coker said. “After the last performance with Budd we got a couple calls. When she fights, that I’m not sure. Depending on who is available we’ll find out who her next opponent we’ll be.”