This just in: Cris “Cyborg” Justino is still a destroyer of worlds.
The most dominant woman in the sport of MMA picked up her 17th consecutive victory with a second-round TKO win over Lina Lansberg.
Cyborg came out of the gates with her usual smothering aggressiveness as she clinched up Lansberg against the fence from the opening bell and went to work with knees to the body and legs.
That just so happened to be a much safer place to be for Lansberg than in striking distance. Cyborg teed off on Lansberg in the stand-up and even decided to try a takedown out like a kid playing a UFC video game on practice mode.
UFC passed along the massive takedown:
Lansberg did come away with one moral victory: She was the first one to last more than a round with the former Strikeforce and Invicta star. Even if it were a lopsided opening round, per Chamatkar Sandhu of MMAjunkie:
Lansberg‘s toughness ran out in the second stanza as Cyborg’s immense physical tools simply became too much. Cyborg jumped out to another strong start, and referee Mario Yamasaki was forced to call an end to the action.
The win for Cyborg is just the latest example of how she is the most devastating woman in the sport. Ronda Rousey has more popularity, sure, but Cyborg’s mixture of power and relentless aggression is just a combination that exceeds Rousey‘s lightning-quick submission game.
The largest question for Cyborg still remains what weight class she’s going to compete in with the UFC. This is Cyborg’s second consecutive fight in which she competed at a catchweight of 140 pounds, but it looks doubtful that she’ll ever be able to shed the additional five pounds to get to 135 pounds.
In the post-fight interview, Cyborg sounded like someone who wasn’t interested in trying to make that cut anymore, per MMA Fighting:
That means that Cyborg is really a fighter without a home in terms of weight class. Either the UFC will need to create a 145 pounds division to build around her, live with her taking catchweight fights and never holding a belt or cutting ties with Cyborg altogether.
After this win, the last option is undesirable. Her dominance is one of the most interesting stories in Women’s MMA, and catchweight bouts with Rousey, Holly Holm and Miesha Tate are potentially big-money matchups.
The crowd in Brasilia, Brazil, wasn’t just treated to yet another Cyborg win; it saw an action-packed night of fights featuring plenty of Brazilian talent. Here’s a look at the complete results from the night and a recap of all the main card action.
Main Card
- Cris Cyborg def. Lina Lansberg, TKO (Round 2, 2:29)
- Renan Barao def. Phillipe Nover, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Roy Nelson def. Antonio Silva, KO (Round 2, 4:10)
- Francisco Trinaldo def. Paul Felder, TKO (Round 3, 2:25)
- Eric Spicely def. Thiago Santos, submission (Round 1, 2:58)
- Godofredo Pepey def. Mike De La Torre, submission (Round 1, 3:03)
Prelims
- Michel Prazeres def. Gilbert Burns, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rani Yahya def. Michinori Tanaka, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jussier Formiga def. Dustin Ortiz, unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-28)
- Erick Silva def. Luan Chagas, submission (Round 3, 3:57)
- Alan Patrick def. Stevie Ray, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Vicente Luque def. Hector Urbina, knockout (Round 1, 1:00)
- Gregor Gillespie def. Glaico Franca, unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Renan Barao vs. Phillipe Nover
Attempt No. 2 for Renan Barao to move up to the featherweight division turned out more successfully than the first attempt.
Looking to restart his career after losing his bantamweight UFC championship—Barao dropped a decision to Jeremy Stephens in his first fight back to 145 pounds—against Phillipe Nover, he looked a little more like the man who once ruled the bantamweight division.
Barao looked like the kind of sharp striker who could throw combinations from range while simultaneously moving out of the pocket. Once establishing a clear advantage on the feet, Barao went to dragging his opponent to the mat.
As Brent Brookhouse of MMAjunkie noted, it wasn’t a vintage Barao performance, but it did feel like he was still superior to someone of Nover‘s caliber.
Nover had some moments in this fight. His success with the jab early on is something he should be looking to build on, but Barao anything near his peak powers is a tough fighter to beat and a step up in competition.
It was good for Barao to pick up a win to break a 1-3 streak in his last four fights, but the performance shouldn’t have any fans talking title picture again anytime soon.
With a mediocre performance in his second fight at featherweight, it’ll be interesting to see whether he stays in the heavier weight class or prepares to make the cut down to 135 again.
Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Silva
It might be hard to believe, but Roy Nelson won another fight by landing a big right hand.
Up until the right hand, neither fighter looked anything like prime versions of themselves. Nelson patiently stalked Bigfoot until he could land the big right hand, and he eventually got what he was looking for.
After coming over top with the right hand throughout the first, Nelson opened up a combination with an uppercut, and it was just the right strike to put away Silva. Fox Sports tweeted the highlight:
The more intriguing rivalry in this fight might have been Nelson and referee John McCarthy. After being forced to throw follow-up strikes after the big right hand, Nelson took exception to McCarthy’s judgement and kicked the referee, per Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting:
The winner of this fight never was meant to matter. Looking at this fight honestly, it was just a matchup that gave the card more name value while determining which one of these guys should definitely retire.
Given the result, it might be better for both to hang it up, but it’s clear that Bigfoot’s days as a competitive UFC heavyweight are done. He’s been knocked out in five of his last six fights and isn’t getting any younger at 37 years old.
Paul Felder vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Francisco Trinaldo would like to have a word with those who are ranking the UFC lightweights.
The Brazilian 155-pounder made his presence known in the division once again with a win over Paul Felder by doctor’s stoppage in the third round.
Felder‘s flashy striking game was able to have its moments. The Irish Dragon actually landed one more significant strike than Trindaldo in the fight, per FightMetric.
However, it was Trinaldo who had more success dictating where the fight took place. He was able to secure a takedown in the second round and get Felder‘s eye open with elbows. Although Felder was still able to mount some offense, the cut got to the point where the referee was forced to call the fight before it could go to the judges.
Trinaldo has quietly become one of the hottest lightweight fighters in the organization. His win streak of seven puts him right between two of the biggest names at 155, per Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie:
At 38 years old, Trinaldo‘s level of competition needs to see an uptick soon. He’s earned the shot to prove that he’s ready to enter the title picture, and being that age, it’s better that he gets that opportunity sooner rather than later.
Thiago Santos vs. Eric Spicely
The main card saw a major upset in the middleweight division with Eric Spicely ignoring Thiago Santos’ home advantage with a slick first-round submission victory.
Santos came into the bout as the No. 15-ranked middleweight in the UFC’s rankings. Coming off a knockout loss to Gegard Mousasi, Eric Spicely appeared to be the kind of opponent who was sent to get Santos back on track in front of a Brazilian crowd.
Instead, Spicely added to his submission victory total. The 29-year-old has earned five of his nine career wins by way of submission.
While it was a great win for Spicely, Patrick Wyman of Bleacher Report noted that it was the UFC that could have been the biggest loser in this fight. Santos looked like another fighter who could develop into a star in Brazil.
After this loss, it seems as though he might be the latest Brazilian prospect who won’t quite reach expectations.
Meanwhile, Spicely might be a name to keep an eye on. As Ben Fowlkes of MMAjunkie pointed out, Spicely isn’t even well enough to get a Wikipedia page at this point, but he is smooth on the ground, and this was a notable upset:
Mike De La Torre vs. Godofredo Pepey
Godofredo Pepey is no stranger to putting on electrifying performances, and he got back into that habit on Saturday night. The 29-year-old defeated Mike De La Torre by first-round submission.
Fox Sports tweeted out the finish, but it was far from the only highlight in the three-minute fight:
Pepey strung together three Performance of the Night first-round wins in 2013-14 before losing to Darren Elkins in July. Of course, one can be excused for slowly having the life squeezed out of them by Elkins. That’s kind of his modus operandi.
However, Pepey was all action again taking on a game Mike De La Torre. He engaged De La Torre with strikes from the outset and outstruck him 24-6 in the round before ultimately taking him to the ground and finishing out the bout with the submission.
After dropping the decision to Elkins, this was exactly the kind of performance that Pepey needed. He will still likely be on the outside looking in on the featherweight rankings, but his performance was still one of the best of the night.
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