Cris Cyborg finishes Gina Carano in 1 Round

It only took one round for Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos to defeat Gina Carano and claim the Strikeforce Women’s 145 pound belt last night. From the start of the fight Cyborg used her strength to bully Carano and dictate the pace. While Carano managed to return fire with her own strikes and even got mount at one point, it simply wasn’t enough. In the dying seconds of the round, Cyborg got top position on the ground and wailed away at Gina until the ref had to wave off the fight with 1 second remaining.

Gina Carano takes a punch from Cris Cyborg - Image: Esther Lin / Showtime Sports

It was a controversial ending for sine who felt that Carano should have been ’saved by the bell’, but she had covered up and wasn’t defending and in mixed martial arts, that means game over. The only disappointment I felt was in not getting to see more fighting … the two went at it without a moment’s break to provide a great first superfight for women’s MMA.

What’s next for Gina Carano is a big question mark … she skipped the post-event interviews and conferences. This was her first loss in MMA, and the first time she’s ever been physically dominated. However, this ain’t boxing and one loss doesn’t mean a fighter is done. If Gina has the will to climb back up to the top, she will still have legions of fans who’ll cheer her on her way.

As for new 145 pound champ Cris Cyborg, Strikeforce president Scott Coker seems to be angling to put her up against veteran Dutch fighter Marloes Coenen. In addition to that fight, he also announced plans for Women’s 135 and 145 pound tournaments to flesh out Strikeforce’s thin women’s divisions and provide more challengers for it’s champions.

Here are the results from the fights:

• Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defeats Gina Carano via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:59 for Strikeforce Women’s 145 pound belt
• Gegard Mousasi defeats Renato “Babalu” Sobral via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:00 for Strikeforce Light Heavyweight belt
• Gilbert Melendez defeats Mitsuhiro Ishida via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 3:56 for Strikeforce Lightweight belt
• Fabricio Werdum defeats Mike Kyle via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 1:24