Tonight Cris “Cyborg” Santos proved that she is the best of all time.
For women’s MMA.
With that said, she also proved she is one of the best of all time.
Looking at her record she has taken out the likes of Hitomi Akano, Hiroko Yamanaka, Marloes Coenen and, of course, Gina Carano. She has taken out almost every single female fighter alive who could be considered a “good” fighter in her division and even outside of it.
She has done what was needed to end up in MMA history one day.
She may not have had the opposition that some great fighters have had. In fact, it could be said that almost no one in all of women’s MMA can really match up to her.
But then again, when MMA began, a lot of the male fighters didn’t exactly get set up with incredible opposition either, and if they did, it left them with less-than-glossy records.
Santos is doing the best she can with what is out there, but more than anything she is blazing a trail.
Women’s MMA is still seen as a sideshow, but Santos brings a legitimacy to it that pretty girls like Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano haven’t. She may not do a sexy photo shoot anytime soon, but she is able to show that being a champion doesn’t mean that she needs to be model gorgeous. She just needs to dominate in the cage.
That will do more for women’s MMA in the long run than any short burst of attention they might get from the next attractive female fighter.
That is because those that tune in to see that fighter are just wanting to see attractive women. That doesn’t mean they want to see attractive women fight. It means just what it sounds like.
At the end of the night, those new viewers will probably have paid as much attention to the ring card girls as they did the female fighters.
When Santos fights, it’s a different story. There is no question why people want to see her fight: She is dominant in the cage. She is a champion and fights and wins like one.
She won’t get a bunch of casual fans to start watching Strikeforce, but she may inspire other women to seriously take up the sport.
And in the end, it will help the sport and women’s place in it.
Santos is dominant in the cage, but it’s how she’s shaping history that makes her deserving of the status Greatest of All Time.
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