It was last July when Gina Carano sat ringside at the Stockton Arena for EliteXC: Unfinished Business. One of the televised matches was Cris “Cyborg” Santos against Shayna Baszler. Cyborg destroyed Baszler at 2:48 of Round 2. CBS cameras caught a glance of Carano smiling, but not the attractive grin that ticketed her for Maxim’s hot list. It suddenly dawned upon her that a showdown with this destruction device was inevitable. For the first time in her life there appeared to be a shred of fear and she entered Saturday night the face of women's fighting, but also an underdog.
Give this to Carano: She lost to Cyborg, beaten up pretty badly, but did not give in to fear, unlike Michael Spinks against Mike Tyson in 1990. She gallantly traded punches with Cyborg and escaped a kimura attempt late in the round, but Cyborg’s power was too much. She pinned Carano against the cage and unloaded at least 20 unanswered blows. Amazingly, there are those who thought referee Josh Rosenthal was wrong in stopping the fight. The ref’s job is to keep an eye on the fighter, not the clock. While Carano was getting pounded, she was told three times she had to fight back and when he failed to receive a response Rosenthal had no recourse but to stop it when it just so happened to be one second left in Round 1.
There were a few comparisons to the epic Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor bout in 1990, when Taylor was three minutes from ending Chavez’s undefeated run at 66 fights and winning the WBC World Junior Welterweight title. He was floored with 17 seconds left and rose at the count of six, yet was verbally unresponsive to referee Richard Steele’s questions. Steele stopped it with two seconds left, setting cornerman Lou Duva in a rage. In Taylor’s case he was nodding and looking towards his corner. He had two more seconds in him, which is why the controversy continues to this day.
No controversy over Cyborg’s tremendous victory before arguably one of the hottest and most energized atmospheres (13,524 strong at The Shark Tank, the NHL’s loudest arena) in the history of MMA, albeit one virtually 100 percent behind Carano.
“I felt like everybody was on Gina's side, but I wasn't alone," Santos said. "I had God on my side and all of my team. I was very comfortable with that. [Having the crowd against me] was something more (to motivate me) for the fight, but I was ready. Inside the cage, there's only two fighters.”
Who’s next for Cyborg? For Carano? And what about the future of women’s MMA and Strikeforce? All mostly sunny from where I sit. Strikeforce president Scott Coker is looking at one of his new additions, veteran Marloes Coenen (16-3), reports my Junkie colleague John Morgan.
Mike Chiappetta of Fanhouse projects it’ll be Erin Toughill, respected in the MMA community, but unfamiliar to the casual audience Strikeforce is looking to attract. Toughill had reportedly been at odds with the organization, but Coker told reporters that she will be welcomed into the fold.
Either way, both Cyborg and Carano need one fight – and impressive wins – under their belts before a rematch, which would be so big Strikeforce had better hope a deal is in place with CBS (they’re not ready for PPV yet). Anyone who believes Strikeforce will go under because its ‘meal ticket’ was pummeled is misguided and failed to notice how awesome Glibert Melendez and Gegard Mousasi looked during their respective victories. If management's eyes do not get bigger than its stomach, Strikeforce will be OK.
Carano will be back and better than ever, because the great ones evolve after learning how to lose. As far as Cyborg goes, never mind her being the the best female fighter. She proved Saturday night she's one of the best in the world, period.
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