(Video via YouTube.com/CagePotato)

Fresh off her one-round devastation of Fiona Muxlow at Invicta FC 5 in April, former Strikeforce champion Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Justino Venancio will return to the cage against Marloes Coenen at Invicta FC 6 on July 13th, in a bout that will determine the first Invicta featherweight champion.

CagePotato.com reporter Brian J. D’Souza caught up to Cyborg at The Gym @ 99 Sudbury in Toronto, where they discussed her journey from handball player to dominant mixed martial artist, the contract terms that kept her from signing with the UFC, and her upcoming rematch with Coenen. Plus, Cyborg spoke out about her current relationships with her manager Tito Ortiz and her ex-husband Evangelista Santos, and the differences between sparring with men and women.

Subscribe to CagePotato on YouTube, and please visit BrianDSouza.com for more of Brian’s hard-hitting MMA reporting.

(“With all respect dued, Dana, *this* is our counter offer. Also, what does counter offer mean?”) 

Although both parties have since moved onto bigger, better things (if you happen to consider crushing cans for Invicta FC ”bigger” or “better”), MMA fans cannot seem to get over the botched negotiations between Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey that eventually led to the cancellation of what would have been the biggest fight in WMMA history at UFC 157. You know the story: Rousey was unwilling to even consider holding the fight at a catchweight, and it was physically impossible for Cyborg to make 135 pounds (or so we were told). Both fighters were left spinning their tires in the mud, that is, until Tito Ortiz showed up and everything really went to hell.

Cyborg was eventually released from her UFC contract, and Rousey went on to become the UFC’s first women’s champ, an influential and inspirational figure in female sports, and a universal sex symbol. So clearly, Tito Ortiz: Manager crushed another one out of the park. But if you were one of those fans who blamed Ortiz (and/or the rest of Cyborg’s Primetime 360 management team) for screwing things up in the first place, you should first turn your crosshairs on the people they were negotiating with. Because according to Ortiz’s Primetime 360 team partner, George Prajin, weight wasn’t even the issue, it was those damn Zuffa tightwads! MMAFighting’s Mike Chiappetta reports:

While (match weight) was at the center of most conversations in the media regarding the inability to make the Cyborg-Rousey fight, it was not the deal-breaker it’s been reported to be.

During the ongoing negotiations, which lingered for about two months, the promotion agreed to pay for the services of a dieting and nutrition consultant like Dolce. But there were other points that the two sides could not agree on.

The biggest issue, according to Cyborg’s management firm Primetime 360, was Zuffa treating Cyborg as a bit player rather than an event co-star.

(Cyborg/Coenen 1 semi-highlights courtesy of magnaflowtv.) 

Fresh off her first fight in nearly two years — a first round obliteration of Fiona Muxlow at Invicta FC 5 that absolutely none of us saw coming – it has recently been announced that former Strikeforce featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino will now rematch fellow Strikeforce vet Marloes Coenen for Invicta’s inaugural featherweight title. Barring any last minute “injuries,” the fight will headline Invicta FC 6 this summer, although a date and location for the event have yet to be determined.

Coenen and Cyborg first met in January of 2010 at Strikeforce: Miami. In a typical Cyborg performance, the Brazilian dominated Coenen on the feet and on the mat en route to a third round TKO stoppage. In the time since, Coenen has won, then lost the Strikeforce bantamweight title, been released from Zuffa for her association with Golden Glory, cast in a Dutch version of Survivor, and scored a pair of wins over Romy Ryussen and, you guessed it, Fiona Muxlow.

Cyborg, on the other hand…well, let’s just say that her top-notch management has been quietly screwing her over for some time now and leave it at that.

Will Cristiane run through Coenen again, or does anyone give the Golden Glory product a better chance the second time around?

-J. Jones

Obligatory.            PicProps: Patrick Walters, CP OG

Invicta FC put on its fifth event last night, closing out a very successful first year for the promotion.  A thirteen-fight card at Kansas City’s Ameristar Casino highlighted Invicta’s swelling roster of talented fighters and solidified the promotions reputation for delivering entertaining MMA bouts.  The show featured debuts of three champs from Strikeforce and Bellator, plus a pair of Invicta championship matchups.  And it fucking rocked.

The card started with a pair of quick submissions, including CagePotato’s own Rose Namajunas, who set the internet on fire with a twelve second flying armbar victory.  According to initial reports, that is the 5th fastest victory in MMA history, and fastest in the women’s division.  Namajunas was understandably jubilant in her win, saying later that she would like all of her fights to be of the blink-and-you-missed-it variety.  She also pointed out that she was still a prospect just starting out at 2-0, and that title talks could wait until she gained more experience.

Video streaming by Ustream

Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson kicks off today at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, featuring a horde of female talent including Jessica Penne, Michelle Waterson, Vanessa Porto, Cris Cyborg, Sarah Kaufman, Zoila Frausto Gurgel, Kaitlin Young, Julia Budd, Bec Hyatt, and last but not least, WMMA staredown queen Rose Namajunas. Rose will be kicking off the prelims rocking CagePotato’s familiar Devil’s Horns logo, so don’t be late — purchase your Internet pay-per-view ticket in the streaming player above and throw down your thoughts in the comments section throughout the night.

And one more thing: Our own Doug “ReX13″ Richardson has been allowed into the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City as a member of the media (LOL!), and he’ll be posting additional updates during the show on our twitter page, @cagepotatomma. Don’t miss it.

If George Shunick’s piece on Fallox Fox and transgender athletes in MMA proved anything to me, it’s that – regardless of whether you agree with Joe Rogan’s stance on the issue (or how he chose to express that stance) – Fallon Fox vs. Cris Cyborg is a fight that FANS NEED TO SEE DAMMIT. One fighter is arguably the most devastating female in MMA, yet is also constantly accused of being a man. The other fighter is undefeated, used to literally be a man, and now calls herself “The Queen of Swords” because of course she calls herself that. In fact, I’m willing to write that Fallon Fax vs. Cris Cyborg – if it were to happen – would go down as the single greatest superfight in the history of MMA, because hyperbole is a pretty rad figure of speech that we don’t use nearly enough around here.

Well, good news, fight fans: Cyborg took a break from preparing to sacrifice Fiona Muxlow to ensure a good harvest and delivering completely pointless trash talk against Ronda Rousey to offer her two cents on Fallon Fox. As ESPN’s Josh Gross recently wrote:

“She wants to be a girl. I don’t agree,” said Santos, who for the first time in almost a year and half will return to fighting on April 5. “I think you’re born a girl, you’re a girl. You’re born a guy, you’re a guy. But I don’t choose opponents. The commission needs to check and make sure she doesn’t have testosterone.

(Nick Diaz just released footage of a pretty sketchy situation that he encountered before the UFC 158 weigh-ins. Read more about the so-called “Canadian loophole” right here.)

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(“Oh hey, didn’t see you there. When my doctor first informed me that I would be getting murdered by Cris Cyborg this April, I had lots of questions; Is there anything I can do to prevent getting murdered? Would bringing a friend to the fight help my chances? Why me, God, WHYYYY?!“) 

It has recently been announced that Cris Cyborg’s originally scheduled opponent for her Invicta FC debut on April 5th, Ediane Gomes, has been forced to withdraw from their Invicta FC 5 bout with a rib injury. It’s a real shame, because as someone who used to beat up dudes on the Brazilian underground fight circuit (Fallon Fox’s doppelganger, if you will.*fires invisible pistols*), Gomes was being given more than a snowball’s chance in Hell against Cyborg, a privilege few of her opponents have been able to enjoy.

But now, stepping in on short notice against the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champ will be Fiona Muxlow, a 6-2 grappling specialist out of Queensland, Australia. Originally scheduled to face Julia Budd at the event (who is now awaiting a replacement opponent as of this write up), Muxlow has not competed since dropping a first round armbar to Marloes Coenen at DREAM 18 on New Year’s Eve last year, snapping a three fight win streak in the process.

Although Muxlow is coming off a loss — one she was utterly dominated in at that — and lacks any notable victories, one should look beyond the numbers to see what this woman is truly capable of. For starters, she began her MMA career by submitting three straight opponents in a one night tournament, so we know she’s a finisher and has cardio for days to boot. Secondly, Muxlow has a poker face that will burn a hole right through your soul. That HAS to count for something in this topsy-turvy world, dammit.

Now that Invicta will be implementing “random” drug tests in the near future, does anyone give Muxlow a decent chance against Cyborg, or should we just start prepping the hospital bed?

-J. Jones

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, yet when we stumbled upon this poster for Invicta FC 5 – which goes down on April 5th from Kansas City – we were left with only questions. A few of the most pertinent being:

- At what point during her steroid suspension did Cris Cyborg become the world’s biggest Sons of Anarchy fan? Is Tito the one who convinced her to start emulating Gemma Morrow? [Author's note: I tremble at night thinking what will happen once she stumbles upon Batlestar Galactica.]

- Have DreamWorks and Invicta partnered up? Because the only logical explanation for the amount of Photoshop on this poster is that it is part of a subtle cross-promotion for The Croods. 

- Why does everyone’s stomach look like Earthworm Jim? Also, does anyone have a copy of Earthworm Jim 3D I can borrow?

- Gun to your head: Cris Cyborg or Fallon Fox?

- Gun to Lloyd Irvin’s head…that’s it.

We’d like to get a little poll going in the comments section, Nation. Which promotion’s poster reigns supreme: The sepia-hued disaster above or King of the Cage’s glorious “Fighting Legends” ad?

-J. Jones

(Santos might have had stanozolol coursing through her veins that night, but it was nothing compared to the elevated levels of fabulousness found in Gus Johnson’s post-fight sample. Photo via Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)

If English is your first or even second language, then chances are you had some trouble deciphering Tito Ortiz’s recent press conference in regards to client Cris “Santos” Cyborg’s decision to leave the UFC. The basic gist: Cyborg fighting at 135 is “impossible for her to happen,” and Invicta FC will serve as her feeding grounds for the time being. We just hope the folks over at Invicta know that the Cyborg doesn’t want to be fed, she wants to hunt.

But in a somewhat ironic turn of events, Invicta FC has announced that it will be implementing random drug tests at all future events just two days after signing Cyborg. Via MMAJunkie:

For the first time in its short history, Invicta FC will utilize random drug testing for its upcoming fifth event on April 5. Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp confirmed the news on Sunday evening. Fighters who will be competing in April were informed of the new policy in late January. An independent agency in conjunction with the Missouri Office of Athletics will handle the testing.

The new anti-PED policy will extend to all future Invicta FC events. The promotion is currently fielding offers from a number of independent testing agencies and hopes to confirm its new testing partner later this week. 

So…regretting turning down a spot on Pink Fight MMA’s inaugural card yet, Cristiane?

Okay…my name is Tito Ortiz…my name is Tito Ortiz…*clears throat* “Good afterday. My name is Ito Tortiz.”

If you’re unfamiliar with our “Unsupportable Opinion/Counterpoint” columns, they’re our attempts at taking an issue that most MMA fans are in agreement on and arguing for the other side, even if we don’t necessarily believe anything we’re writing. Sometimes, they’re actually right. Hell, sometimes they’re downright prophetic. Usually, they’re even more wrong than we imagined. Regardless, they’re usually just a way to argue against popular opinion, so try not to call me too many mean names over this column, okay? I’m sensitive, you guys.

Anyways, the general consensus on the latest attempt at public speaking by Tito Ortiz – the press conference he held to announce that Cyborg had signed with Invicta FC – is that it ended predictably. He did fairly well until the part where he had to open his mouth, and then…tragedy.

Video is After the Jump

Oh, this? It’s just a video of Gomes beating up some random Brazilian guy, no big deal.

Just one week after Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos asked to be released from her UFC contract, the feared Brazilian striker has already found a new home. There was never any doubt as to where Santos would go once leaving the UFC, but yesterday it was announced that Cyborg has officially signed with Invicta FC.

Cyborg will be making her promotional debut at Invicta FC 5 on April 5. Her opponent will be the other scary Brazilian featherweight, Ediane Gomes, who was originally booked to beat the tar out of Julia Budd. Here’s what you need to know about Gomes: She is 10-2 overall, she is riding a four fight win streak, she most recently beat up Hiroko Yamakana in January, and her last loss came by armbar against Ronda Rousey. Oh yeah, and she once beat up a guy in Rio Heroes, yet none of his friends made fun of him for it (see above).

(Because of its needlessly tall dimensions — you’ll see — we’ve placed the video after the jump.)

Because it has been over three years since Gina Carano has fought, we don’t hear from the former “Face of Women’s MMA” as often as we’d like to, but the fighter-turned-actress was in New Orleans for the Super Bowl over the weekend, and filmed a rare interview with SB Nation in which she tried to clear up whether or not she is actually retired from MMA and what she thinks about the elusive Ronda Rousey vs. “Cyborg” Santos mega-bout.

On being called a current fighter, Carano drew an important distinction. “I haven’t fought in three years and right now I’m focusing on films…that’s what my focus is,” she explained. “I think that if your focus is fighting, then you’re a fighter and that’s not my focus right now.”

“Conviction” wouldn’t close the door on her ever fighting again, however. “You can’t say that.”

“I wake up every morning and I surprise myself. I wake up to a new me. I still train.”

She last sparred about two weeks ago, in fact, and “felt really good.”

Carano went on to say that Rousey deserves the hype and attention, and also called shenanigans on Santos claim that she’d be facing certain death if she were to cut down to 135 pounds — the prerequisite for her fighting Rousey, according to UFC President Dana White. Carano doesn’t believe that Uncle Dana is being unfair to “Cyborg” by making the former 145 pound champ drop down to 135 in order to fight in the UFC and, potentially, against Rousey.

“I don’t think so…she made it down there a lot easier than I made it down there. That’s for Cyborg to figure out,” Gina said.

(Now it can be told: Vitor Belfort caught this gash in sparring ten days before his fight against Michael Bisping. It needed 20 stitches. Props to reddit_mma for the tip.)

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(Cormier, seen here after placing his life savings on Staring while wearing his lucky spandex.) 

Well, it’s official, Strikeforce is planning to go out with a bang, and by “a bang” we mean “a public execution.” From the very first moment they announced that newly appointed heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier would be facing complete unknown Dion Staring in a non-title affair, we knew that the odds would be astronomically in Cormier’s favor, but -2000?!! MMAFighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti first broke the news via his Twitter:

Wow. Daniel Cormier opens as a -2000, I repeat, -2000 favorite over Dion Staring. Not quite the same as Frank Mir, is it?

This begs one to ask: Is Staring coming into this fight following a recent amputation? He’s a no-namer, sure, but the man also sports a 28-7 record compared to Cormier’s 10-0. Sure, Cormier’s fought a far higher level of opponents in those 10 fights, but at these odds, Staring has a better chance of knocking himself unconscious in the sauna than he does of beating Cormier. Hell, I have a better chance of knocking out Cormier in the sauna then this poor bastard does.

For a little perspective, consider this: Anderson Silva — that would be ten time defending UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva – was favored at around -1350 over Stephan Bonnar. The highest discrepancy in Strikeforce history came when Cris Cyborg fought Jan Finney at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, which also topped out around -2000. The highest discrepancy in MMA history (to my knowledge) came when Antonio Rogerio Nogueria fought Sokoudjou at Pride 33 (-2500) — a fight the former ended up losing, by the way.

(Related clip: Tito and Cyborg rolling together in June 2011. Skip to 2:30 to see Cyborg lift Tito like a damsel in distress. Anyway, they’re business partners now. / Props: MMA Heat)

A few heads were scratched when the UFC announced yesterday that UFC 157 would be headlined by Ronda Rousey taking on Liz Carmouche. Rousey’s star is certainly on the rise and is as good a bet as any first-time pay-per-view headliner would be, but Carmouche is relatively unknown outside of hardcore Women’s Mixed Martial Arts circles. and WMMA as a PPV entity is unproven on the whole.

It made more sense once it was revealed that several opponents, including currently suspended former 145-pound champion Cristaine “Cyborg” Santos, had turned Rousey down. The potential Rousey/Santos fight is the biggest women’s match out there, as both have held Strikeforce world titles and have a running feud with one another.

According to White, however, his former friend/client/contracted worker/sworn enemy Tito Ortiz is to blame for Rousey vs. Cyborg not taking place at UFC 157. ”That’s the fight that should be happening,” White said during yesterday’s UFC on Fox pre-event presser in Seattle. “Tito Ortiz is her manager, and he advised against it.”

Well, of course it’s Tito’s fault. It’s been forever since White was able to complain about and blame something on Tito. All must feel right in the world once more for the Baldfather.

(Image courtesy of Jason Floyd via MiddleEasy)

Was somebody at br.ufc.com having a little joke last night — or did they reveal something they weren’t allowed to yet? Whatever the case, the UFC’s official Brazilian website briefly posted a link to UFC 157: Rousey vs. Cyborg, the women’s superfight that remains too good to be true.

Cris Cyborg immediately denied the match was happening, telling MMAJunkie that while she is currently negotiating with the UFC, she won’t be meeting Ronda Rousey at the February 23rd event in Anaheim. But in violation of her strict doctor’s orders, the former Strikeforce’s 145-pound women’s champ revealed that she could indeed get down to 135 pounds eventually: “In one month, I can’t do it, but if I have time, I could do it,” Cyborg said, perhaps miscalculating the amount of time between now and 2/23.

The details of Rousey’s UFC debut remain unknown. Nevertheless, she remains the UFC’s 135-pound women’s champion. Pretty sweet gig, if you ask me.

(Cris Cyborg: The Madonna of MMA. / Photo via Strikeforce)

With women’s 135-pound champion Ronda Rousey and former 145-pound champ Cris Cyborg still split on which weight they would meet at for their fantasyland matchup, Cyborg has pulled the old “doctor’s note” move. Members of the Cyborg camp told MMAWeekly yesterday that the dynamic Brazilian striker — who is still serving out her one-year steroid suspension — met with her doctors recently, and was informed that a cut to 135 pounds wouldn’t be safe:

Her cardiologist stated emphatically that he would not sign off on a move down a weight class based on her current health. The dangers to her body could also prohibit Santos from carrying a child later in life, and according to her camp, that was a risk the former Strikeforce champion was unwilling to make for any fight. Santos’ walking around weight currently hovers around 160lbs and the 25lb cut would just be too much for her body according to her doctors.

I mean…Cyborg looks like she could probably cut 10 pounds in excess back-muscle alone, but hey, I’m no doctor — I’m only a humble Female Body Inspector. In response, Rousey’s manager Darin Harvey pointed out the obvious:

(Seen here: The WMMA fight that men and women around the world would *definitely* tune in to.) 

If we know anything about Strikeforce female bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, it’s that she is not one to let go of a grudge. On the heels of yet another dominant armbar finish over Sarah Kaufman in August, Rousey was quick to call out the roided-up thorn in her side that the general public knows as Cris Cyborg. As it turned out, Cyborg had been removed from the building beforehand, but the table was nonetheless set for possibly the biggest fight in WMMA history. The only problem with this matchup appeared to be Cyborg’s insistence that she simply could not cut the weight necessary to challenge Rousey for her title. Rousey was also adamant about her desire to stay at 135, and the two have been locked in a stalemate ever since.

But that hasn’t stopped either party from continuing the endless war of words with one another. True to form, Rousey has lobbed significantly more verbal bombs at Cyborg as of late, mainly in regard to her past steroid use. Her most recent attacks took place on The MMA Hour:

If you can make 145 [pounds] while you’re super juiced out, you can make 135 if you’re clean.

Cyborg has never had a fair fight. If you really look at it, she’s had fights where she came in and outweighed the other girl by 12 pounds and then they still fought. This girl has a long history of cheating and using drugs, and coming in overweight, and no one’s ever put their foot down ever about it.

While Rousey has every right to criticize Cyborg’s history, to say that she’s never had a fair fight seems a bit audacious on her part. Sure, the opponents placed before Cyborg were little more than lambs being led to the killing field, lambs who stood next to no chance of beating Cyborg in this or any other dimension, but….we forgot what point we were trying to make. In any case, while we’re on the subject of audacious claims, Rousey followed up her anti-Cyborg rant by claiming that a fight with the former Strikeforce featherweight women’s champ would be “the biggest fight in MMA history.”

Those comments are after the jump. 

(Those shorts used to be full-length pants, until somebody made her angry. / Photo via TitoCouture)

Nine months into her year-long steroid suspension, former Strikeforce featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (or whatever she’s going by these days) made an appearance on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour yesterday, where she discussed her desire to get it on with bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey when she’s back in action.

There’s just one small problem. As Cyborg told host Ariel Helwani, cutting to Rousey’s weight class of 135 pounds would be a physical impossibility for the Brazilian banger, who’s currently walking around at a lean 160. But maybe Ronda could meet her halfway? As Cyborg explained:

“I really wanna fight Ronda. I really want to. She says bad things about me. I never say bad things about my opponent. I want to do my best in the Octagon, and if she says she wants to fight me, she can come to my weight or at 140…She started at 145. And she’s running to 135. She’s running to not fight me. And after, she speaks a lot of s— about me. I want to fight her soon. I’m very excited to fight her. And when we’re in the Octagon, we’ll see if she says anything. And if she says anything, I can punch her.”

(The “Hipster Assassin” has shattered bones that you probably haven’t heard of yet. / Photo via @rondarousey)

Five months after snatching Strikeforce’s 135-pound women’s title with her gruesome/awesome arm-bending win over Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey will attempt to make her first belt-defense against Sarah Kaufman on August 18th in San Diego. MMAFighting.com confirmed the news, which should be officially announced by the promotion in the coming weeks.

No other fights for the 8/18 card have been reported yet, and the venue hasn’t been announced, although Strikeforce’s last two stops in San Diego — for Melendez vs. Masvidal and Diaz vs. Daley — went down at the Valley View Casino.

If Rousey can armbar her way through Kaufman, she may earn the dubious honor of facing Cris Cyborg in her next defense. As Scott Coker recently explained: ”I think (a fight between Rousey and Cyborg) is going to be inevitable. I think that fight will happen at some point. We’re just waiting for Cyborg to get off her suspension but that conversation will happen once she’s back ready to fight because her and Ronda at 135-pounds? That might be the highest rated show on Showtime for the year or for the past fights we’ve done. Women’s fights always rate well on Showtime and Ronda’s always delivered.”

So, two questions…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/cardosopro)

If you’ve never seen the video above, it’s like the double rainbow in that it’s possibly the only time you’ll ever see Cris “Cyborg” lose and also the only instance, at least in our vast memory, of an MMA bout being won by double-kneebar.

The fighter Cyborg lost to, Erica Paes — a world BJJ champion who trained alongside the likes of the Nogueira brothers, Ricardo Arona and Murilo Bustamate at Brazilian Top Team at the time — got knocked out in her next bout and retired with an official 1-1 pro record.

Although she hasn’t fought since and has since traded in her MMA gloves for a microphone and a guitar, the aspiring Brazilian singer recalls the 2005 win vividly as it happened in the midst of the famous Chuteboxe-BTT rivalry.

“I never worry about how strong my opponent is. When I saw Cyborg, who was enormous, I thought, ‘I do not care. I train with Minotauro Nogueira.’ It was wonderful,” she recalls. “We do the move a lot in training. I got within range, took her to the ground, made a mistake, and she got up. She did what I love, came up to kick me, then I grabbed her legs so I could apply a leg lock and finished with the double-kneebar.”

(I bet even those scientists from the future who put me together couldn’t have predicted that old #643227 would become a future champion!) 

Success is a double edged sword. On one hand, it brings fame, fortune, and an immeasurable sense of self confidence, one that can only be gained by the awareness that you are truly the best at what you do. On the other, it brings crushing, tireless scrutiny from everyone around you, including those who helped build you up in the first place. And it is when you allow those naysayers to affect your daily routine, your mental state, or, in Christiane “Cyborg” Santos‘ case, your training regimen, that you have begun the inevitable fall from grace that follows.

Ever since her introduction to the public MMA circuit, Santos was looked at as a fighter who was simply on another level than that of her female counterparts. Her strength, striking ability, and general physique was shocking to even the most devoted MMA fans, and after she handled Gina Carano to take the Strikeforce women’s featherweight title, we knew she would be there for a long, long time.

And as with any case of athletic dominance, steroid accusations were immediately lobbed at the champ. Though there was little evidence to suggest any truth to these claims, pundits and keyboard warriors alike ruthlessly pursued them nonetheless. And as it turns out, behind the rumor was a fair bit of truth.

Bad news for…well, everybody, really. The California State Athletic Commission put out a press release earlier today announcing that Strikeforce featherwight champion Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Santos — the most dominant female fighter in the history of the sport — has tested positive for an anabolic steroid. As a result, her license has been suspended, and the result of her last win over Hiroko Yamanaka on December 17th will be changed to a no-contest. Here’s the full release via BloodyElbow:

CALIFORNIA STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION SUSPENDS LICENSE OF FIGHTER CRISTIANE JUSTINO SANTOS – a.k.a. CRIS CYBORG

Mixed Martial Arts fighter tested positive for anabolic steroid in December 16, 2011 test

The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) has suspended the license of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Cristiane Justino Santos, better known in MMA circles as Cris Cyborg, and has fined her $2,500 as the result of a positive test for a banned substance.

Santos’ December 16, 2011 drug test came back positive for stanozolol metabolites. CSAC learned of the test results December 23, 2011 and suspended Santos’s license, with the suspension applied retroactively to December 16, 2011. In accordance with Rule 368, the result of her last fight between Hiroko Yamanaka will be changed to a “No Decision”.

“Our primary concern is for the health and safety of fighters,” said CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd. “Anabolic agents and other banned substances put not only the users of those agents at risk, but their opponents as well. The commission simply will not tolerate their use.”

It was the only stoppage from last night’s Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal card, and it was a nasty one. With no 145-pound contenders in sight, Cris Cyborg plans to shed some muscle and dominate at bantamweight in the future.

(Oh man. This is not going to end well. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com. For more photos from this set, click here.)

Can you believe it’s been over three months since Strikeforce put on a legit non-Challengers card? The promotion finally gets back to business tonight with two title fights — Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal in the lightweight division and Cris Cyborg vs. Hiroko Yamanaka at women’s featherweight — plus a light-heavyweight bout between Gegard Mousasi and Ovince St. Preux that could produce a contender to the vacant belt.

Round-by-round results from the “Melendez vs. Masvidal” main card broadcast on Showtime will be collecting after the jump beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET, courtesy of CagePotato liveblog rookie Steve Silverman; please do your best to make him feel welcome. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.

(Props: YouTube.com/Strikeforce)

Reminder — Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal goes down tomorrow night in San Diego, and we’ll be liveblogging the Showtime broadcast beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Strikeforce recently released this promo video focusing exclusively on the lightweight title competitors and Cris Cyborg; Gegard Mousasi and Ovince St. Preux are nowhere to be seen, and the only glimpses we get of KJ Noons and Billy Evangelista are brief clips of them getting beat up by Jorge Masvidal. Still, this could be a surprisingly entertaining card for those who actually care enough to watch it. Either way, that clip of El Nino ruining Kawajiri’s life with elbows never gets old.

After the jump: Jorge Masvidal gets interviewed by three hot Spanish chicks, nearly slaps the crap out of one.

(“Dun, dun, dun, dun, da-dun, dun, da-dun. Dah, dah, dah, dun, da-dun, dun, da-dun…“)

Props to MMAMania for directing us to the current betting lines for this Saturday‘s Strikeforce women’s featherweight title fight between Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Santos and mysterious ex-dominatrix Hiroko Yamanaka. As of now, the champ is a -900 favorite, meaning that you’d have to bet $900 to collect a $100 profit if she wins. Yamanaka is a +550 underdog, meaning that a $100 bet would return a $550 profit if hell freezes over the challenger takes the belt.

Here’s why you might bet money on Yamanaka to score an upset: Cyborg hasn’t competed since June 2010; Yamanaka has gone 3-0 since then, with all wins by stoppage. Yamanaka might be able to keep Cyborg at bay with her height and range. Crazy shit happens in this sport all the time.

Here’s why you shouldn’t actually consider doing this: Literally every other reason you could possibly think of, including Cyborg’s unparalleled aggression, her history of consuming Japanese opponents, her home field advantage in the U.S., and most importantly, that it sucks to lose even small amounts of money in this economy.

If you have to bet on something this weekend, fill out this helpful questionnaire, then continue reading for a few wagering suggestions that are almost as risky, but not completely insane.

(And here we have Ronda Rousey dumping Karo Parisyan on his head. Props: DantheWolfman)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- The Great ‘Must Retire’ List of 2011 (MMA Convert)

- Bellator’s 10 Best Fights of 2011 (The Fight Nerd)

- Photo Gallery: Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos Training for Hiroko Yamanaka (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- The 25 Most Outrageous MMA-Related Videos on YouTube (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Spike TV to Counter-Program ‘UFC on FOX 2′ With ‘UFC Unleashed: Evans vs. Davis’ (MMA Payout)

- Arianny Celeste: Chael Sonnen Is Very Polite To Me Backstage (FightLine)

- Keith Kizer: Urine Is ‘Obviously’ Better Than Blood for Steroid Testing (Fight Opinion)

- Dana White Sees Jon Jones as #2 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Joseph Benavidez Inspired to Become a Great Champion in New UFC Flyweight Division (MMA Mania)

- Demian Maia: I Know I Can Submit Michael Bisping (MMAFighting)

- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Avoids Surgery on Broken Arm (5th Round)

- Can Someone Please Help Felice Herrig With Her Wardrobe Malfunction? (MiddleEasy)

(Cyborg at 135 will be a scary woman, especially to other 135-pound women)

In an interview she did this week with TATAME, Strikeforce featherweight champ Cristiane Santos revealed a bit of insight into the plans the promotion has for its women’s division.

According to “Cyborg,” the Zuffa-owned organization has asked her to drop down to 135 following her December 17 title defense against Hiroko Yamanaka as they are looking to do away with the 145-pound class since they can’t find anyone to face her. On the bright side, Santos says she’s lucky that Strikeforce is accommodating the women on its roster considering UFC president Dana White’s thoughts on female MMA.

“I signed the contract for these four fights after UFC purchased Strikeforce, so I guess they’ll keep us, they’ll keep the female divisions and female MMA keeps growing and growing, and I guess they’re keeping the girls and it depends on what we do to call UFC’s attention,” Santos explains. “[As of right now there] are still two weight divisions: 135lbs and 145lbs.”