Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Champion

Cris Cyborg was born on July 9, 1985 in Curitiba as Cristiane Justino Venancio.

Growing up, Cris liked to play sports and competed in many different sporting events. In 2004 while still in high school, she competed in a handball championship. A parent at the game noticed Cris during one of her matches. He saw that she had a unique quality in her game; she was extremely athletic and strong compared to the other girls. After the match Cris was invited to try a free Muay Thai class at Chute Boxe gym.

Everyone at Chute Boxe was very impressed with her skills. After only 4 months of being introduced to the sport she had her first MMA match.

After a short period of time, Cris returned to training, and faced her next opponent who was a very experienced fighter. Both fighters gave their all and went to war against each other for 3 rounds. Cris won by unanimous decision.

Cris’s next 3 fights were brutal and fast KO’s for her opponents. It became very clear that there were no opponents for Cris in Brazil; no girl would fight Cris causing her to have a break in her MMA career. She then started to compete in Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling to maintain her competitive edge, always winning the championships. In 2008, Cris signed with Elite XC, giving her the opportunity to fight again. This time against the ground wizard Shayna Baszler and after two knock downs the referee finally called the fight and Cris was victorious. This was the beginning of a new era for female fighters in the MMA world.

Source: www.StrikeForce.com

“Known as Cyborg, Cristiane Santos shares this nickname with her husband, fellow Strikeforce fighter Evangelista Santos. A product of the Brazilian fight team Chute Boxe Academy, Santos boasts a near perfect MMA record, losing only in her debut fight via kneebar to Erica Paes.

Perhaps the most dominant champion in MMA today, Cyborg casts a shadow over the rest of the division. Renowned for her excellent striking and aggressiveness, Santos defeated Gina Carano in the last seconds of the first round, becoming the first ever Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight Championship.

Cyborg, the consensus #1 female fighter in the world, made her first title defense on January 30, 2010 at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL and successfully defeated the dangerous Marloes Coenen in the third round by TKO. On June 26th, Cyborg took to the cage and simply demolished Jan Finney during Fedor vs. Werdum at HP Pavilion in San Jose.”

Stats

Result	Opponent	Method	Event Title		Date	Round	Time
NC	Hiroko Yamanaka	KO	Strikeforce/Melendez vs. Masvidal		12/17/2011	1	0:16
Win	Jan Finney	KO (Knee to the Body)	SF/M-1 Global Fedors vs. Werdum		06/26/2010	2	2:56
Win	Marloes Coenen	TKO (Punches)	Strikeforce – Miami		01/30/2010	3	3:40
Win	Gina Carano	TKO (Punches)	Strikeforce Carano vs. Cyborg		08/15/2009	1	4:59
Win	Hitomi Akano	TKO (Punches)	Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Diaz		04/11/2009	3	3:00
Win	Yoko Takahashi	Decision (Unanimous)	EliteXC – Heat		10/04/2008	3	3:00
Win	Shayna Baszler	TKO (Punches)	EliteXC Unfinished Business		07/26/2008	2	2:48
Win	Marise Vitoria	TKO (Stomps)	SS 12 – Storm Samurai 12		11/25/2006	1	1:27
Win	Elaina Santiago	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	SS 11 – Storm Samurai 11		05/21/2006	1	2:46
Win	Chris Schroeder	TKO (Punches)	SS 10 – Storm Samurai 10		01/28/2006	1	N/A
Win	Vanessa Porto	Decision (Unanimous)	SS 9 – Storm Samurai 9		11/20/2005	3	5:00
Loss	Erica Paes	Submission (Leglock)	SF 2 – Show Fight 2		05/17/2005	1	1:46