Cris Cyborg Santos


 * Cyborgtitle.jpg

Cristiane Justino Venancio Santos (born July 9, 1985) is a mma fighter and the Strikeforce Women's Middleweight (145 pound) Champion after defeating Gina Carano on Aug. 15, 2009. Her current record is 10-1.

Biography
Cristiane was a national-level handball player in Brazil before being discovered by Rudimar Fedrigo, a Chute Boxe Academy trainer in 2004 while she was still in high school. After only three months of training in Muay Thai, Santos started training jiu-jitsu and had her first mma match.

MMA Career
{| align="left" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 775px;" {| align="left" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 400px;"
 * colspan="400" style="vertical-align: top; width: 400px;"|

Rough start
After only a few months of training in March 2005, Santos lost her first mma match vs. Erica Paes via leg lock. It would be her only defeat.

thumb|left|400px|Santos vs. Erica Paes
 * Santos would continue training and face top fighter Vanessa Porto in November 2005, who she defeat by decsion.
 * Santos would continue training and face top fighter Vanessa Porto in November 2005, who she defeat by decsion.

thumb|left|400px|Santos vs. Vanessa Porto Part 2

Conquering Brazil
Santos would continue havng success in Brazil throughout 2006, facing American Chris Schroeder, and Brazilians Elaine Santiago and Marise Vitoria, winning all by TKO.

thumb|left|400px|Santos vs. Marisa Vitoria

Cyborg Hits America
It would take one and a half years until Santos would get a fight in July 2008 when she signed with EliteXC. She had an instant impact by defeating top grappler Shayna Baszler via TKO.

thumb|left|400px|Santos vs. Shayna Baszler
 * She would face Japan's Yoko Takahasi to a decsion win in November 2008.
 * She would face Japan's Yoko Takahasi to a decsion win in November 2008.

As EliteXC went into bankruptcy, Strikeforce aquired Santos's contract. Her first match was a controversial TKO win over Hitomi Akano, as Santos weighted in 5.5 pounders uver the scheduled 145 pound weight limit.

Biggest Match in Women's MMA History
Santos would face Gina Carano for the first ever 145 pound title in Strikeforce history. In what was the highest rated women's match in women's mma histroy, Santos would win the title and maintain her dominance in the divsion.

thumb|left|400px|Santos vs. Gina Carano

Strikeforce Title Defences
With her conquering of Carano, Santos would seek challenges from any and all comers. First off came the new nuymber one contender Marloes Coenen. The Dutch fight would be a challenge, but Santos would go on to win handily in the thrid round.
 * thumb|left|400px|Santos vs. Marloes Coenen
 * Hungry for another challenger, Strikeforce lined up 135 pounder Jan Finney, which wasn't much of a tatsk for Santos.
 * Hungry for another challenger, Strikeforce lined up 135 pounder Jan Finney, which wasn't much of a tatsk for Santos.
 * Hungry for another challenger, Strikeforce lined up 135 pounder Jan Finney, which wasn't much of a tatsk for Santos.

thumb|left|400px|Santos vs. Jan Finney Round 2
 * }

MMA Record

 * }

Professional Fight Record

 * 1) Santos weighed in 5.5 pounds over
 * 2) Won the Strikeforce 145 pound title
 * 3) Defended the Strikeforce 145 pound title

Websites
Official website

http://criscyborg.com/

Official twitter

http://twitter.com/criscyborg