Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos def. Gina Carano via TKO in Round 1. Santos becomes the first ever female MMA champion.

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The main event of Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg made history in two regards. It was the first ever female MMA title fight and it was the first female fight to headline a fight card. The crowd of over 13,000 reaction indicated that the fight deserved its position as main event. The crowd favorite lost though, as Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos defeated Gina Carano via technical knockout in the waning moments of the first round. 

The women began the fight with a frantic pace, easily making the fight the most entertaining of the evening. Carano and "Cyborg" traded punches and takedowns throughout the first round but it was a trip takedown by "Cyborg" that put the Brazilian on the path towards victory. Santos followed the takedown with a keylock submission attempt but Carano escaped, only to eat a barrage of right hands that ended the fight. 

With the TKO vicotry Cristiane Santos became the first ever female MMA champion. 

Santos' victory will create questions about the future of female MMA. Gina Carano was certainly the more marketable fighter --the conventional opinion is that Carano's good looks trump "Cyborg's" skill-- however, WKR isn't quite ready to pour dirt on the grave of female MMA just because Carano lost. Santos is an excellent fighter and it Carano was far from embarrassed in the fight. Sarah Kaufman is also a capable challenger for the new Strikeforce female champion. 

The anticipated American debut of Gegard Mousasi went perfectly according to plan. Geagrd Mousasi and Renato Sobral, the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, went to the mat quickly and Mousasi transitioned to side control where he rained down a monsoon of punches that caused Sobral to go limp. The fight lasted just sixty seconds and Gegard Mousasi became the new Strikeforce light heavyweight champion. For this twenty-four year old fighter, his record is now a ridiculous 25-2-1. 

In the Strikeforce Interim lightweight championship bout, Gilbert Melendez avenged his previous loss to Mitsuhiro Ishida with a third round TKO. Ishida took this fight on short notice and wore down as the fight went on but he never looked dominating as it appeared that Melendez won the first round. Gilbert Melendez retained his interim lightweight belt and now sets up an inevitable show down with current Strikeforce lightweight champion, Josh Thomson. 

Top heavyweight, Fabricio Werdum, submitted Mike Kyle in under ninety seconds. Werdum was coming off a first round knock out loss to Junior dos Santos and hadn't fought in over 14 months. Clearly "ring rust" was not an issue, as Werdum secured the early takedown and submitted Kyle. 

A potential next fight for Werdum is against consensus #1 ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.

The curse of the Strikeforce welterweight fight continued as Strikeforce moved Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor from the main card to the preliminary card. The reason? Strikeforce had over 50 minutes to fill before the Showtime broadcast began. Unfortunately this move seemed bush league as earlier in the week Strikeforce moved the Fabricio Werdum Mike Kyle fight to the televised card. 

In the actual fight Hieron utilized a steady dose of takedowns to wear down Jesse Taylor who appeared to be suffering from cutting weight (Taylor usually fights at 185lbs. not 170lbs.). In the end Hieron won via unanimous decision. 

Full Results below

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg coverage

Main Card

• Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos def. Gina Carano via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 4:59. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos wins Strikeforce women's 145-pound title.
• Gegard Mousasi def. Champ Renato "Babalu" Sobral via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 1:00. Gegard Mousasi is the new Strikeforce light heavyweight champion.
• Champ Gilbert Melendez def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 3:56. Melendez retains Strikeforce interim lightweight title.     
• Fabricio Werdum def. Mike Kyle via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:24.
• Jay Hieron def. Jesse Taylor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Editor note: Moved to preliminary card due to timing as Strikeforce had 50 minutes to fill before the event went live on Showtime.

Preliminary  Card 

• Scott Lighty def. Mike Cook via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:05. 
  
• Justin Wilcox def. David Douglas via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 3, 3:16.
• James Terry def. Zak Bucia via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 1:23.     
• Alex Trevino def. Isiah Hill via submission (side choke) - Round 1, 3:56.     

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg coverage

The crowd in attendance at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. was 13,524.

Carano vs. Cyborg Video