Dana White was already wondering about the viability of the Strikeforce women's 145-pound division. After watching Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos destroy a helpless Hiroko Yamanaka in 16 seconds Saturday night, he's got to be thinking more about promoting just one female division down at 135.
Add in that each month Gina Carano is away from the sport, cements the fact that she's never returning for a serious run, and the featherweights better watch their diet and prep to slim down.
That's not going to be an easy task for Cyborg. You are what you are, and she's a large woman. She already looks ridiculous shredded at 145. Can she really cut another 10 pounds in healthy fashion and recover in one day to be 100 percent rejuvenated on fight nights?
"I'm going to put in a valiant effort to try and make 135," Santos told MMAjunkie's John Morgan through an interpreter. "Maybe if I can make a catchweight and fight at 140 first and slowly make my way down to 135, but I'm going to put in a good effort to get down to 135."
If the 145 division remains, Strikeforce could match up Cyborg against Ronda Rousey. That'll certainly make for a good prefight promotion, but from a fight standpoint, it may be a mistmatch. What does it say about the 145-pound division if the best option for the champ is to face�a woman who is just four fights into her pro career?
The signs are there that Carano isn't coming back. There will simply be too many opportunities and too much money in the entertainment world to allow her to return to getting punched in the face. Her film "Haywire" is due for release in 2012. You can see in this January GQ feature why she'll be so highly sought after as a female action movie star.
What do you guys want? A more loaded 135 division or to see Zuffa/Strikeforce to show some patience and allow the field to develop the next few years at 145?
Ed Herman Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe
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