“She’s (expletive) strong.”
Those were the words uttered by former light heavyweight champion and future UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz after getting slammed during a grappling session with Strikeforce women’s middleweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.
Gina Carano may be the face of women’s MMA, but there has never been a female fighter as imposing as Cyborg.
Strikeforce is constantly forced to scour the globe for suitable opponents willing to challenge the MMA amazon.
Cyborg’s strength and athleticism allow her to train with professional fighters of the opposite sex. These aren’t light sparring sessions either. In the video below, Ortiz is training with Cyborg like he would any teammate.
People may poke fun at Cyborg’s femininity with masculine jokes, but any true fan of the sport has to respect her talent.
Despite being a world champion, Cyborg remains the most ambitious female in women’s MMA. She’s constantly working hard to improve her technique and shore up holes in her game.
Skeptics of women’s MMA tend to blame their reasoning on a lack of excitement and quality names. While there is definitely truth to the latter, it would be disingenuous to discount the excitement level of female fighting. The ladies are generally involved in some of the more entertaining scraps on a fight card.
In sports, we want to see the biggest and strongest athletes compete, and both of those qualities aren’t usually associated with women.
This is where Cyborg differs from the rest. People continuously point to her overbearing strength, but it’s her athleticism that truly stands out. There are very few women that come into this world with the ability to move and explode like Cyborg. She is constantly breaking boundaries and turning new heads to female fighting.
Who is the true face of women’s MMA?
Watch this video, and see if it doesn’t change your mind.
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos Power Bombs Tito Ortiz
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