Carano vs Santos Set As Main Event

by Robert Sargent

For the first time ever, a women's bout will headline a major North American mixed martial arts event, as superstars Gina "Conviction" Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos square off for the Strikeforce 145-Pound Women's Championship.

Carano and Santos will collide on August 15th, in a bout scheduled for five rounds of five minutes each, and the event will air live on Showtime for a large audience.

Provided that the women can make weight, which is something that both have struggled to do, this has the makings of the biggest women's MMA bout to ever take place in North America. As the fight is set at 145 pounds, with the first Strikeforce 145-Pound Women's Championship on the line, it is expected that, this time, there should be no issues with making weight.

Carano (7-0-0) first exploded on the scene with her Fight of the Night Unanimous Decision victory over Julie Kedzie at EliteXC: "Destiny" on February 10th, 2007. She continued her rise to mainstream fame with further victories over Tonya Evinger and Kaitlin Young, sandwiched between stints as "Crush" on the new seasons of American Gladiators. After a final victory over Kelly Kobold-Gavin at EliteXC: "Heat" last October - a fight in which Carano, one of the main draws of the night, made a paltry $25,000 - EliteXC folded and Carano was left without a place to ply her trade.

Though she has branched out with television commercials and video game voiceovers, Carano remains known as "The Face of Women's MMA," and this will be her biggest test to date. A victory will provide her with a huge step forward in her career and arguably the most prestigious women's title in North America today.

Santos (7-1-0), on the other hand, attracted a reputation as the most feared female fighter in Brazil after a series of punishing victories left Santos without anyone willing to fight her. She debuted in EliteXC at the company's second CBS event, "Unfinished Business," on July 26th, 2008, where she destroyed submission ace Shayna Baszler in the second round. She competed on the undercard of EliteXC's final event, "Heat," and won a three-round war with Yoko Takahashi.

However, while Carano has long had struggles with the scale, she has never missed weight as badly as Santos did for her recent fight with former SmackGIRL 128-Pound Champion Hitomi "Girlfight Monster" Akano. Already coming up two weight classes to meet Santos, Akano had to contend with the fact that Santos weighed in a full seven pounds overweight for the fight. By the time the two fighters stepped into the cage, Santos outweighed Akano by close to 25 pounds. The result was academic, as Santos battered her much smaller opponent and scored a third-round TKO victory.

Her horrible failure to make weight, however, was the true story of the fight, and Santos made more enemies than fans with her win over Akano.


This is a chance for Carano and Santos to both redeem and validate themselves, as both look to put past issues with weight behind them as they establish themselves as the top two 145-pound females in the world. While competition at the 145-pound level is scarce, a victory could set up a potential superfight between the winner and #2-ranked women's fighter Tara LaRosa. Should LaRosa be willing to move up to 145, or compete at a 140-pound catchweight, that would determine the #1 female fighter in North America.

However, should LaRosa not sign with Strikeforce - and she has little reason to when the American Fight League is paying her a rumoured $500,000 - other contenders remain in the growing Strikeforce female division. Undefeated Canadian standout Sarah Kaufman looks to keep her perfect record intact when she faces Shayna Baszler on June 19th. While Kaufman would prefer to stay at 135, a fight with Carano or Santos, perhaps at 140 pounds, would be a big draw.


Also on the August 15th card, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh "The Punk" Thomson will finally defend his title against Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert "El Niņo" Melendez. Thomson captured the title from Melendez with an extremely lopsided Unanimous Decision victory last June.