Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is head and shoulders above any contender in the Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight division, and perhaps all of women’s MMA.
Cyborg really landed on the MMA landscape when she beat Gina Carano back in 2009. Since then she has rattled off a pair of victories in defense of her championship.
The next stop on her title defense tour landed her in San Diego against Hiroko Yamanaka. Hiroko headed into the fight on an eight-fight win streak. Could her momentum continue against Cyborg?
What We’ll Remember about This Fight
Sixteen seconds. That sums up the fight. Cyborg knocked Hiroko down within the first five seconds and then swarmed her, knocked her down again and the fight was called just a few seconds later.
What We Learned about Hiroko Yamanaka
She isn’t scared to come out fighting, even though that accelerated the time of her loss. The fight ended so soon that we didn’t really get a chance to see Hiroko’s skill set. All we are left with are the images of her hitting the deck twice, and the referee stopping the fight.
What We Learned about Cyborg Santos
She deserves to be in the conversation when discussing the most dominant fighters in MMA. Of course that discussion would have to have the parameters of discussing her and women’s MMA. It would not be fair, nor comfortable, to theorize how she would do in the men’s division.
As mentioned earlier, Cyborg burst onto the scene in her win over Carano. Her popularity has increased with each win, and it will no doubt be even higher after this 16-second TKO. We knew that Cyborg had the strength to overwhelm her opponents, now we have witnessed her speed as well.
What’s Next for Hiroko Yamanaka?
Most likely will be staying in Japan to continue competing in promotions such as Jewel in which she has lost just one fight within the last five years. At the age of 33, she may be too far along the road to make a serious run at the Strikeforce belt. Especially considering the wake-up call she had against Cyborg.
What’s Next for Cyborg Santos?
If Cyborg stays in the featherweight division, her next opponent will most likely be Ronda Rousey. Ronda has announced plans to move down to bantamweight to challenge Miesha Tate, but she could very well be lured into staying at 145 after Cyborg criticized Rousey in her post-fight interview for “talking too much.” Rousey is 4-0 in her professional career, with each of the fights lasting 49 seconds or less.
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