(It was like this, but even more terrifying.)
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from former Strikeforce Women’s featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. In the fallout of her sixteen second destruction of Hiroko Yamanaka and subsequent positive steroid test that saw her stripped of her title, “Cyborg” has been laying low, quietly awaiting her April 9th appeal and the chance to smash Ronda Rousey for her insolence.
In the meantime, it looks like the former champ has decided to broaden her training horizons, if you will, now incorporating a regular diet of Japanese game show hosts and comedians to satiate her overwhelming desire to kill. In fact, she recently appeared on the Japanese show Honoo no Taiikukai to demonstrate that she is just as strong without anabolic steroids coursing through her veins by taking on a…male Japanese comedian? Believe it or not, the match was surprisingly competitive for the most part, until Cyborg decided to go all Courtney Korpela on the poor bastard.
Sadly, Cyborg’s exhibition with the comedian was twice as competitive as Sergei Kharitonov‘s kickboxing match against TUF 9 alum Mark Miller from last weekend’s United Glory 15 card. At the same event that saw Semmy Schilt score a UD victory over Brice Guidon in his first kickboxing match in over two years, Kharitonov returned to action for the first time since his Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament Semifinal loss to Josh Barnett.
Miller seemed content to swing for the fences like a man possessed. Unfortunately, his fists would find nothing but air while Kharitonov made mincemeat of the IFL vet without breaking a sweat. The end came just two minutes into the first round via a brutal right hook, improving Kharitonov’s kickboxing record to 3-2. Check out the video below.
Speaking of humiliating defeats; you guys remember the crazy moment during the first episode of TUF 15 where Dominick Cruz called upon rival coach Urijah Faber to pick his best man, only to have noone step forward? Well it turns out that Cruz was so impressed by his own swagger that he decided to re-enact the scene along with the help of such familiar UFC faces as Tyson Griffin, Jeremy Stephens, and Ross Pearson. And on top of that, Cruz decided to showcase his acting talents by playing a double role ala Eddie Murphy and depicting Faber’s wide eyed shock of Cruz’s “Like a Boss” moment. “The Dominator” indeed.
And finally, end your lunch break on a high note by watching this great kickboxing scrap between Giorgio Petrosyan and Artur Kyshenko from last weekend’s Fight Code event in Milan, Italy. For those of you not familiar with Petrosyan, he is a two time K-1 World MAX champion and WKN Intercontinental Middleweight Muay Thai champion. In 70 professional kickboxing fights, he has only been defeated once, and is widely considered to be the number one ranked fighter in all of kickboxing. Quite a claim to back, and though his fight against Kyshenko, a top fiver in his own right, isn’t his greatest performance, it truly showcases his technical abilities as a striker, so just sit back and enjoy.
-J. Jones