Cristiane Santos

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(Redirected from Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos)

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 EliteXC and Strikeforce
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (born July 9, 1985) is a female Brazilian professional mixed martial artist fighting out of the Chute Boxe Academy.

She stands 5 ft. 8 in. tall and fights in the 145 lbs. division.

Santos is an EliteXC veteran and currently fights for the Strikeforce promotion.

She is the wife of fellow professional mixed martial artist, Evangelista Santos.

Early Career

Cristiane Santos began her professional mixed martial arts career for the Brazilian Show Fight promotion on May 17, 2005. She was defeated by opponent, Erica Paes via leglock in the first round.

Santos picked up her first professional victory six months later, as she scored a unanimous decision victory over Vanessa Porto after three rounds.

She fought three more times in 2006, winning all three fights via TKO stoppage in the first round with all three bouts coming under the Storm Samurai banner.

EliteXC and Strikeforce

Santos had a year hiatus from fighting before she was called up to face off against top flight fighter, Shayna Baszler at EliteXC: Unfinished Business on July 26, 2008. Santos savaged Baszler with her vicious muay thai that had the referee calling a halt to the bout in the second round.

Following the bout, immediate interest surrounded a potential match-up between Cyborg and female MMA poster girl, Gina Carano.

That bout would have to wait however, as Santos instead faced Yoko Yakahashi at EliteXC: Heat on October 4, 2008. Santos overpowered her Japanese opponent for three rounds, finally taking a unanimous decision win.

The stage was set for a Cyborg/Carano showdown as Carano had won later that night. Those plans were nixed however once EliteXC went under.

Santos signed to fight Dutchwoman, Marloes Coenen at an XMMA event on February 27, 2009 in order to stay busy. However, she pulled out of that bout when she was signed to the Strikeforce promotion who had just purchased select assets from the sinking ship that is EliteXC's parent company, Pro Elite.

Santos made her Strikeforce debut at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz on April 11, 2009 against Japanese fighter, Hitomi Akano. Prior to the bout, Santos stirred up some controversy as she weighed in seven pounds over the contracted weight of 145 lbs.. She was given time to cut to 149.5 lbs. in order to make the bout a legal one however she could only manage 150.5 lbs.. Akano initially refused to take the fight citing it was about principle and she was setting an example but after some last minute negotiations Akano accepted the bout.

The fight was a travesty as a monstrous Santos overwhelmed the much smaller Akano, eventually winning via third round stoppage. After the bout, Santos proclaimed her desire to fight Gina Carano while blaming the weight issue on "women's problems".