Cyborg Takes Control
By George Hernandez
Strikeforce put on an action packed night of fights Saturday night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California with three championship bouts. The most anticipated women’s MMA bout in history lived up to the hype, when Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos stopped undefeated Gina Carano with under a second left in the first round.
Cyborg came out throwing a furry of punches and catching Carano off guard. Cyborg went for a suplex but ended up on the bottom of Carano, but rolled into a heel hook. The heel hook looked locked in but Carano was able to roll out.
Both fighters got back to their feet and Cyborg went for another toss on but Carano ended up in the mount and rained down strikes. Cyborg got out and then rushed Carano with a barrage of punches against the cage. Carano kept her hands up and took the shots but was getting winded.
Cyborg got Carano down again and took her back and some hard shots but Carano got back to her feet. Carano and Cyborg end up in the clinch and Cyborg pushed her to the cage. Cyborg took Carano down for the fourth time and ended up in the half guard and went for a key lock but Carano got away. Cyborg remained on top and landed a knee and started throwing hard shots and Carano wasn’t fighting back. The referee was forced to stop the fight with less then a second left in the first round. Cyborg (8-1) becomes the first women’s MMA champion while Carano (7-1) tasted defeat for the first time.
Mousasi takes Babalu’s belt;
Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) started off the fight with a killer kick to the body of Renato “Babalu” Sobral but Babalu caught it. Mousasi took Babalu down and started raining down strikes and Babalu was stuck against the fence and couldn’t get out. Babalu got knocked out stiff only 1:00 into the round. Mousasi takes Babalu’s Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship.
Werdum taps Kyle;
Both fighters came out looking to strike. Mike Kyle (12-7-1) gets the better of Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) in the exchange. Werdum throws a kick that was caught by Kyle, Kyle pushed him against the cage and threw a hard right had but misses. Werdum got the take down and ended in Kyle guard. Kyle went for an armbar but Werdum passes to side control. Kyle tried to get up but Werdum locks in a guillotine. Kyle is forced to tap 1:24 in the first round. Werdum jumps right into the mix to be the first to face Strikeforce signee Fedor.
Other bouts;
Gilbert Melendez def. Mistsuhiro Ishida by TKO (strikes) – Round 3, (defends interim lightweight title)
Jay Hieron def. Jesse Taylor by unanimous decision
Scott Lighty def. Mike Cook by TKO (strikes) – Round 1
Justin Wilcox def. David Douglas by submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3
James Terry def. Zak Bucia by TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:23
Alex Trevino def. Isaiah Hill by submission (side choke) – Round 1
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