Aug
16
2009
0

Gina (shudder!) lost — Is this the end of Women’s MMA in America?

Cristiane Cyborg Santos vs. Gina Conviction CaranoBy Katrina Belcher (KatrinaBelcher@mmaratings.net)

So after all the hype, our great American female hope, Gina Carano, lost to Cristiane Santos last night. Big deal.

Does anyone seriously believe this the end of Women’s MMA in America? I don’t think so. Gina’s only one female fighter – there are plenty more out there who are ready to make their presence known.

You may not know about them because they’re not famous yet, but if you start looking around your own neighborhood, you’ll start to see them. Why? Because this fight and the notoriety it brought has paved the way for female fighters to get noticed.

Speaking of the fight last night: Gina lost, sure, but she didn’t give up, and she kept fighting – even working her way out of two submission attempts. Gina showed she could stand and strike with Cyborg.

The problem was three things as I saw it: Gina’s cardio (she tanked), Cyborg’s strength (whoa!), and the fact that Cyborg is just pretty much a brawler! She’s relentless, she doesn’t stop, and Gina was never able to defend and then recover against the onslaught. Cyborg kept going in close and pounding her, never giving Gina a chance to use her legs or knees – good strategy. Pretty much took away Gina’s best tools. And after keeping up the barrage, all the exhausted Gina could do at the end was duck and cover.

Last night, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos proved to be the better fighter. Last night. And enough with the steroid nonsense – the women get tested just like the men and there’s no evidence that she cranks. Cris is obviously stronger, and she trained hard, trained right, and had a better game plan, period. When the interviewer asked Gina backstage in the holding area what her game plan was, Gina just hemmed and hawed and didn’t really say much. At the time I thought she probably just didn’t want to give Cyborg any advantage by telling her in advance what it was – but now I’m thinking maybe she didn’t really HAVE a game plan!

Gina’s loss is not the death of Women’s MMA in America – far from it. It’s just the beginning for female fighters. As with any athlete, sometimes you have to lose to learn. Look what it did for GSP when Matt Serra whooped him in UFC 69. He admitted he’d not trained properly. He then changed camps, even came to the U.S. to switch up his game plan – and whipped Serra in UFC 83. Sometimes you have to lose to learn things about yourself – if you’re smart enough to admit it and make some changes. I think Gina is and will.

And think about it – Gina’s got an impressive 7-1 record – where’s the shame in that? Anderson Silva is widely regarded as the best P4P fighter in MMA today – yet he’s got four losses to his name! Did MMA die for male fighters when Randy, Tito, Chuck, Hendo, The Spider and GSP lost their fights? Look at Koscheck – he’s like the Energizer Bunny: he keeps coming back, and back and back. Exactly.

The question you need to be asking yourself now is who is Cyborg going to fight next…that’s what I’d like to ask her!

Seriously, in spite of what the casual fan thinks, Women’s MMA is not dead, the MMA sky will not be falling tomorrow, and Gina Carano will be back – better, faster and stronger than before. Meanwhile – start checking your local shows to try and find an opponent for Cris, or she may not have any work for a while!

Oh – off point here: what’s with those skinless “Keys of the Cage” CGIs? Somewhat reminiscent of Human Weapon, but were they really necessary?


What Do You Think of This Fight/Event?