Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsAfter a seemingly interminable, 18-month trip to the sidelines during the prime of her career, Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is finally heading back where she belongs, in the middle o…
After a seemingly interminable, 18-month trip to the sidelines during the prime of her career, Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is finally heading back where she belongs, in the middle of the cage.
When Santos returns at December 17’s Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal event, she’ll have the respected Japanese fighter Hiroko Yamanaka standing across from her, hoping to wrest the belt away. But like always, Santos will enter as a huge favorite to retain her championship in dominant fashion, and a win could open the door for her to become a two-division champion.
That’s because Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told reporters on Tuesday that the promotion plans to continue both Cyborg’s featherweight class, as well as the bantamweight class, currently reigned over by champ Miesha Tate. Recently, it had been rumored that the featherweight class would be dropped. But even though Coker suggests Cyborg’s division will still be in play, the Brazilian phenom said she is interested in fighting in both classes.
“It’s going to be difficult but I’m going to try to make the move if there’s more work for me there,” Santos said on Tuesday.
“I want to try to do both categories if possible, but I know there is more opportunity at 135,” she added.
It’s hard to blame “Cyborg” for looking to fill her plate after her recent stretch of inactivity. She had fought four times in 14 months from April 2009 to June 2010, scoring four KO/TKO finishes in that time, but the last of those wins over Jan Finney was the last fight on her contract.
The two sides engaged in lengthy negotiations, and for a time, Santos announced she would fight in her home country, but every possibility to return to action seemed to fall through for her until she finally re-signed with her current promotion in August 2011.
Still just 26 years old, Santos will attempt to shake off the ring rust while defending her belt. She sees the layoff as no issue, choosing to emphasize the improvements she was able to make while honing her craft in the gym.
“I feel like I’ve gotten better at jiu-jitsu, I’ve been staying competitive in that aspect,” she said. “I’ve been working on boxing, striking. I feel I’m better and more well-rounded as a fighter than I was before.”
If that’s true, now fighters in two weight classes will have to contend with her unique blend of athleticism, power and technique.
Filed under: StrikeforceThe final Strikeforce fight card of 2011 features Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal and Cris Cyborg vs. Hiroko Yamanaka, two championship bouts on Dec. 17 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.
The final Strikeforce fight card of 2011 features Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal and Cris Cyborg vs. Hiroko Yamanaka, two championship bouts on Dec. 17 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.
Melendez, who is on a five-fight win streak, will look to defend his Strikeforce lightweight title for the third time. Masvidal is 2-0 this year and defeated K.J. Noons via unanimous decision in June to earn this title shot.
Cyborg, who is making her return after having her Strikeforce contract renewed in August, last fought back in June 2010. She’ll defend her 145-pound belt against Yamanaka, a fighter who’s made her name through the Smackgirl and JEWELS promotions in Japan.
Ronda Rousey is the next big thing in women’s mixed martial arts.
The undefeated Rousey, who beat Julia Budd on the Nov. 18 Strikeforce Challengers card, has been running through her competition like few fighters, male or female, we’ve ever seen: Rousey is 4-0, and incredibly all four of her wins have come in less than a minute, all by armbar. Before turning pro she had three amateur fights, and she won all three of those by armbar in less than a minute, too.
And so, although she’s still new to the sport and still hasn’t been tested against the best women Strikeforce has to offer, Rousey makes my Top 5 as we rank the top pound-for-pound fighters in women’s MMA. She looks that good.
What we don’t know yet is whether Rousey is more than just a one-trick pony: If she faces an opponent who’s able to keep the fight standing, will she be able to hold her own exchanging punches? And although she’s not going to face anyone who’s on her level as a judo player, will she be able to execute more than just her go-to arm bar if she faces an opponent who’s sophisticated enough on the ground not to let Rousey get her arm?
It remains to be seen. But I think she’s a future champion, and I think she deserves her place on the list of the top women in the sport, which is below.
1. Cris Cyborg (1): After more than a year away, Cyborg returns to defend her women’s 145-pound title against Hiroko Yamanaka. That’s an interesting matchup; Yamanaka has a 12-1 record and will have a height and reach advantage over Cyborg. But Yamanaka has never fought outside Japan before, and Cyborg has been so dominant that at this point it’s very tough to see anyone beating her.
2. Zoila Gurgel (2): It’s unfortunate that after Gurgel’s huge win over Megumi Fujii, she’s only been able to fight once. She’s currently nursing a torn ACL and won’t be back any time soon. It would make sense for Bellator to arrange another women’s tournament for the right to take on Gurgel, although it’s not clear whether that’s in the promotion’s plans.
3. Miesha Tate (7): Tate turned in a great performance against Marloes Coenen to win the Strikeforce 135-pound women’s championship. What really worked for her in the Coenen fight was her superior wrestling, and it’s her wrestling that would make her a favorite to beat almost any female fighter in the world.
4. Megumi Fujii (3): In the year since suffering her one and only loss to Gurgel, Fujii has gone back to Japan and won a couple of unanimous decisions. I’d like to see her back in the Bellator cage in 2012, and a rematch with Gurgel would be the biggest women’s fight Bellator could make.
5. Ronda Rousey (NR): Rousey has been calling out Tate, and although the next shot at Tate’s 135-pound title was supposed to go to Sarah Kaufman, Zuffa may decide that Rousey is too hot to hold off on right now. Rousey is an easy sell for promoters because she’s smart and articulate and an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, and putting her in the cage with Tate would be one of the most marketable female fights that Strikeforce could arrange.
6. Marloes Coenen (4): First Coenen lost her Strikeforce title to Tate, then she lost her contract when her management at Golden Glory feuded with Zuffa. Now it’s anyone’s guess when or where she might fight next; she’s with an organization called BlackEye Promotions, which has no events scheduled.
7. Sarah Kaufman (5): Kaufman’s only loss was to Coenen, and since then she’s won two in a row, supposedly earning a title shot against Tate, whom Kaufman beat in 2009. The question is whether Strikeforce will push Kaufman aside to put Rousey in the cage with Tate.
8. Jessica Aguilar (8): Aguilar looked great in her unanimous decision win over Lisa Ellis-Ward at Bellator 58. Aguilar has now won seven of her last eight fights, with the only loss coming by split decision to Gurgel.
9. Tara LaRosa (6): LaRosa has been inactive since her great heel-hook submission of Carina Damm in March, and as a result a couple of more active fighters have leapfrogged her in the rankings. LaRosa is one of the real pioneers for women’s MMA. Let’s hope she’s back in the cage soon.
10. Alexis Davis (NR): Davis has had a couple big wins since we last updated our women’s rankings, beating Julie Kedzie by unanimous decision in July and then beating Amanda Nunes by TKO in September. I hope Zuffa keeps Strikeforce’s 135-pound women’s division alive, because Davis could be a great opponent for Tate, Kaufman or Rousey.
(Cyborg at 135 will be a scary woman, especially to other 135-pound women)
In an interview she did this week with TATAME, Strikeforce featherweight champ Cristiane Santos revealed a bit of insight into the plans the promotion has for its women’s division.
According to “Cyborg,” the Zuffa-owned organization has asked her to drop down to 135 following her December 17 title defense against Hiroko Yamanaka as they are looking to do away with the 145-pound class since they can’t find anyone to face her. On the bright side, Santos says she’s lucky that Strikeforce is accommodating the women on its roster considering UFC president Dana White’s thoughts on female MMA.
“I signed the contract for these four fights after UFC purchased Strikeforce, so I guess they’ll keep us, they’ll keep the female divisions and female MMA keeps growing and growing, and I guess they’re keeping the girls and it depends on what we do to call UFC’s attention,” Santos explains. “[As of right now there] are still two weight divisions: 135lbs and 145lbs.”
(Cyborg at 135 will be a scary woman, especially to other 135-pound women)
In an interview she did this week with TATAME, Strikeforce featherweight champ Cristiane Santos revealed a bit of insight into the plans the promotion has for its women’s division.
According to “Cyborg,” the Zuffa-owned organization has asked her to drop down to 135 following her December 17 title defense against Hiroko Yamanaka as they are looking to do away with the 145-pound class since they can’t find anyone to face her. On the bright side, Santos says she’s lucky that Strikeforce is accommodating the women on its roster considering UFC president Dana White’s thoughts on female MMA.
“I signed the contract for these four fights after UFC purchased Strikeforce, so I guess they’ll keep us, they’ll keep the female divisions and female MMA keeps growing and growing, and I guess they’re keeping the girls and it depends on what we do to call UFC’s attention,” Santos explains. “[As of right now there] are still two weight divisions: 135lbs and 145lbs.”
The 26-year-old Brazilian, who already cuts a massive amount of weight to make 145, says she’ll have her work cut out for her dropping another 10 pounds, but she’s willing to give it a shot if it means keeping her job.
“It’s already hard for me to drop to 145lbs, I gotta work a lot and they’re thinking about one division only. They asked me if I could do it. I can try; it’s not impossible. Let’s see… I guess that in the future there’ll be some news,” she predicts. “It’ll be hard because I got a lot of weight to lose, but it’d be good because I could fight more. I guess it’s important to keep active, it’s my job, so I’ll try it to stay here.”
In other news, the whole Strikeforce women’s 135-pound division announced today that it will be dropping to 125.
I say put Cris in with some of the men her size and see how she does if they can’t find women to fight her. The only problem with that plan that is they’d probably give Kenny Florian an immediate title shot at the new unisex belt.
“When you fight someone, you share the experience with that one person, and you’re never going to have that experience with someone else—even in another fight. I always have this weird connection with them. It really is like we had sex. I’ll always know how many people I fought.”
Does that mean she doesn’t know how many dudes who have rear-naked-choked her or are we reading too much into the quote?
(Gina during her Madonna phase. Pic props: BullettMagazine)
“When you fight someone, you share the experience with that one person, and you’re never going to have that experience with someone else—even in another fight. I always have this weird connection with them,” Gina says. “It really is like we had sex. I’ll always know how many people I fought.”
Anyway, Gina went on to say that, just like in bed, sometimes the person you’re squaring off with in the ring can have a bad performance, especially if they didn’t come to bang.
“I think that fighting is similar to sex in that people have to let their guards down — well, some people do and some people don’t,” she explains. “The secret is chemistry. When two people are attacking each other, that chemistry is definitely going to come out in an interesting way.”
After a seemingly interminable, 18-month trip to the sidelines during the prime of her career, 
The final 
Ronda Rousey is the next big thing in women’s mixed martial arts.
