Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos was arguably the biggest star in all of women’s MMA. She could see all that fall apart before her eyes following a positive steroid test and resulting suspension.
Santos intends to go through the appeal process, but regardless of whether she is found innocent, her career, and much more importantly, WMMA will be stained for the foreseeable future.
Most MMA fans know that women deserve their own place in MMA and can generally agree that some of the women in MMA are talented. Many women’s matches are more entertaining than some of the fights between men.
But there’s also another set of fans, perhaps an even larger group, that doesn’t want to see women in MMA. The sport can be rough and some people don’t want to see women fighting each other.
As old-fashioned thinking as that sounds, it represents a large amount of fans in the MMA world.
Fans who don’t want to see women compete in MMA will no doubt use this as billboard material when making their arguments as to why WMMA shouldn’t exist. These fans don’t want women fighting, let alone taking steroids.
I’ve also heard the argument that Santos’s suspension will allow other stars to develop, and that is certainly true. But every fighter at 145 pounds knows that if they were to win the title now, it would be nothing more than an interim title.
Santos is the end-all for women’s MMA.
Like the Royce Gracie of early men’s MMA, fans would agree that she can handle any of the ladies currently competing in the world.
Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey are likely the two fighters who will benefit the most from Santos’s suspension. Rousey certainly knows how to make a headline, and both ladies definitely have the looks to match their talents.
The problem with both women is that they compete in a weight class outside of Santos’s reach.
With all the attention focused on the 135-pound division in WMMA, it will be make-or-break time for the women. Like the heavyweight division in boxing, it’s clear that the 135-pound division will draw the most fan interest for the time being.
Even though “Cyborg” doesn’t compete in this division, people (uneducated ones) will still associate her with the 135-pound division. The lines between weight classes in WMMA are blurred, and a lot of fans don’t associate the women with their weight classes.
When Santos returns from her suspension, however long it may be, she will always have a dark cloud over her head. Like Chael Sonnen with his PED issues, there will always be material for fans to question Santos with.
Unfortunately for Santos, she doesn’t have the career options available like some of the women in MMA. She was born to step in the cage and smash whoever is put in front of her.
Hopefully the American fans keep with the status quo and forgive all trespasses as long as she wins. The quickest way for Santos to get the steroid talk out of people’s mouths is by putting on another dominant performance.
But that will have to wait, as “Cyborg” fights for her credibility along with the credibility of WMMA.
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