Cage Cast 26: The Cyborg Cometh

What a weekend for MMA. History was made as we watched the first female MMA champion crowned. On top of that we were also privy to the first female fight headline a card. Really a triumph for female sports and a new generation of sports fans.

You can listen to this episode of Cage Cast here, subscribe to our RSS feed and our iTunes feed. This episode is about an hour long and there is a minor skip due to editing difficulties at the 43:00 minute mark.

First we talk about Carano vs. Cyborg. There is so much to talk about with so many different angles of analysis but we begin with Carano abandoning the mount early in the first round. For Gina to give up on such a dominant position raises some questions about her tactics and decision making. This is to take nothing away from the great showing byCrisitiane "Cyborg" Santos. Santos was dominant, decisive and aggressive. From the beginning she seized the initiative and took control of the fight. Carano was on her heels the whole time and finally succumbed to "Cyborg's" onslaught in the waning moments of the first round. Was the stoppage controversial? WKR thinks this story is a red herring as the fight was stopped at the correct moment by some excellent refereeing.

The fact that the Carano is widely considered the face of female MMA many are questioning whether her loss could be a death nail for women's MMA. WKR doesn't subscribe to this narrative and we explain why.

Next we talk about Gegard Mousasi and his impressive victory over Renato "Babalu" Sobral. As Nick Becker said onWKR, "Welcome to America." Mousasi's victory puts him on a path to be the first fighter to be ranked in the top twenty-five in three divisions on USA Today/SBN's Consensus Rankings.

Next we talk about Gilbert Melendez's victory over Mitsuhiro Ishida and whether this victory puts him on a path for rematch with Josh Thomson. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker mentioned that Thomson could fight Dream lightweight champion, Shinya Aoki.

Fabricio Werdum defeated Mike Kyle via a first round submission. Does this put Werdum on a collision course withFedor?

The last fight we talk about is the Jay Hieron Jesse Taylor fight. Strikeforce screwed both of these fighters over by demoting the fight to the preliminary card. That leads to our next topic how was Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg as a product. Clearly there were timing issues which will hopefully be worked out in the future.

Finally we compare the Strikeforce announcing booth to the UFC's. Zak is in love with Gus Johnson and that is where the conversation spirals out of control.

Thanks for listening to this edition of Cage Cast. Feel free to comment and send us your thoughts about the show. Email us at watchkalibrun@gmail.com.

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg coverage