There are few athletes in the world who can truly be considered once-in-a-lifetime type talents. In fact, in the history of most sports, those athletes can typically be counted on one hand.
On the men’s side of mixed martial arts, many believe that UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has asserted himself into the conversation as that kind of athlete. But on the women’s side, the debate is already over—Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is the most talented female fighter of all-time—and it’s not close.
The gap in talent between Cyborg and the next closest female fighter became even more evident on Dec. 17 when she absolutely destroyed the consensus No. 2 featherweight in the world, Hiroko Yamanaka in just 16 seconds.
She is so far ahead of the next closest women’s fighters, in fact, that some believe that she could and even should move out of the women’s divisions and into the men’s divisions where there might actually be some competition for her.
Even current Strikeforce lightweight K.J. Noons has come out publicly in the past and stated that he believes “Cyborg” could compete with the men at 145 pounds.
“I believe (male vs. female fights) wouldn’t be that competitive, but every now and then there is a special athletic woman that can compete with men in fighting,” Noons told Sherdog’s Loretta Hunt in July 2010. “I believe Cris is one of them.”
That kind of endorsement from a talented former MMA champion says the world about what this talented woman has to offer to the sport. However, the reality of the situation is that there is just no way that she will ever fight a man in a sanctioned mixed martial arts fight.
Sure, the case could be made that Cyborg will continue to mow through every female opponent she ever faces until she eventually decides that she’s bored and wants to retire, but that still doesn’t change the fact that there is no way that a state athletic commission would ever dream of sanctioning a fight between a male and a female, no matter how good the female is.
Not only that, but there is even less of a chance that Zuffa would promote a male-vs-female fight. Just imagine the backlash that would come from it. One only has to think about the considerable amount of heat that the WWE has taken in the past during their inter-gender matches headlined by former superstar Chyna—and that wasn’t even real.
Zuffa is attempting to promote mixed martial arts as a legitimate competition. Putting on an inter-gender fight would be a step so far in the wrong direction that it’s hardly even worth discussing. If they ever want MMA to be taken seriously as a family-friendly sport, they absolutely cannot condone gender-on-gender violence.
But perhaps the biggest reason that this kind of fight would never happen is that no male fighter with any brain whatsoever would ever accept a fight with any female, even “Cyborg” Santos.
Sparring in the gym is one thing, but actually competing in a fight with a woman has zero potential benefit for a man.
If he wins, who cares? He’s supposed to win. Not only that, he also beat up a girl. Losing the fight could very realistically mean the end of his professional MMA career. What promoter would ever sign a guy after he just lost to a woman?
As pointless as it might seem to some, Cyborg isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, other than perhaps down to 135 pounds where there are a few opponents who she hasn’t decapitated quite yet. Fights with Miesha Tate, Alexis Davis, Sarah Kaufman and even Ronda Rousey are still worth watching.
Certainly Santos would be the overwhelming favorite in any of them, but large favorites are not uncommon in sports.
The Cyborg-vs-Men discussion will continue over the next few years, but fans should remember that it’s purely hypothetical. We can be mad about it all we want, but there is absolutely no way she will ever fight a man.
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