On Friday night, Strikeforce officials named an opponent for women’s featherweight champ Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos (10-1) previously announced December return.
Meeting the champ on December 17 will be Japanese fighter Hiroko Yamanaka (12-1) with both squaring off at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California as part of Strikeforce 37.
The event is also expected to feature a lightweight title match between Gilberty Melendez and Jorge Masvidal.
Santos hasn’t fought in over a year, earning her tenth straight victory in June of last year by stopping Jan Finney with a knee to the body. That was the last fight on her contract with Strikeforce, since then the two sides have spent the year negotiating and finally came to terms. ‘Cyborg’ has stopped four straight opponents by (T)KO.
Yamanaka has eight in row, seven under the Japanese based Jewels promotion name. Her last win came in July, a second round armbar submission over Mongolian wrestler Bolormaa Erdenebileg. Yamanaka has won eight of her twelve victories by submission.