With many of their current title-holders jumping ship for the UFC or remaining unsigned, Strikeforce took its first steps towards rectifying the situation by signing a new deal with women’s 145-pound champion, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.
According to MMA Rants:
“After several months of negotiations, Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos the Standing Women’s 145lb Champion has re-signed with Strikeforce. Word comes directly from Cyborg’s camp.”
Cyborg’s management has stated that:
“Cris is ecstatic to be staying under the Zuffa umbrella for another year. She would like to thank Strikeforce and Zuffa for the opportunity to prove she is the best 145lb Woman in the world. Cris has been training and is ready to step back into the cage to defend her Strikeforce belt.”
Cris Santos is widely considered to be the pound-for-pound best women’s fighter in the world, winning her last ten fights, eight of which have been by knockout. She’s finished the likes of Hitomi Akano, Gina Carano and Marloes Coenen.
While this deal is positive in the sense that Strikeforce has managed to re-sign their dominant women’s featherweight champion, it is apparently only for “another year,” which doesn’t make it any more likely that women’s mixed martial arts has a long-term future under the Zuffa banner.
Without having stepped inside the cage since June 26, 2010, with her defeat of Jan Finney, Santos is rumored to be returning to action soon.
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