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By: Maynard Sweeney, MMATorch Contributor This article is the twenty-second in a series of daily releases counting down the top thirty fights of 2008. We will release a new article each day starting from #30 all the way up until the end of the month.
Top 30 Fights of 2008: #9
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Shanya "The Queen Of Spades" Baszler
EliteXC: Unfinished Business - 7/26/2008
Alright, I admit it: I have a wee bit of a crush on Cris Santos. How could I not? Is there anything as primordially sexy as a woman in a cage, dressed like an Amazon, mauling another young lady with surgical brutality? I don't know about you, but nothing gets my juices flowing quite like a chick that will implant my teeth into the back of my throat with a well placed knee if she doesn't approve of my Valentine's Day gift.
With that said, I'd like to turn your focus on the actual fight selected for 2008's ninth best fight of the year: Cristiane Santos versus Shanya Baszler. In what was easily the best female fight of this historical year, Santos managed to take a page out of Willie T. Sherman's book and conducted a campaign of total war on the Baszler, a product of the highly skilled Josh Barnett.
Before her fight against "The Queen Of Spades," Santos hadn't participated in a professional mixed martial arts bout in nearly two years. This span of inactivity was hardly a lapse in her career though, as she spent most of it avidly competing in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu circuits in her native Brazil.
By the time fight night had rolled around, a very high level of expectations had been generated for the Brazilian's State-side debut. On top of being married to the merciless Evangalista Santos, who made a name for himself in the now defunct PRIDE organization, Santos hails from the legendary Chute Box Academy. Her routes had set the bar high, could she do her school proud?
It didn't take long to find out. Following in the footsteps of Wanderlei Silva, Maurico and Murilo Rua, as well as her own husband, Evangalista, Santos launched just under six minutes of ruthlessness upon poor Shanya. "Cyborg" lit Baszler up like a five month early Christmas tree, with a hearty barrage of punches and a vicious onslaught of knees – courtesy of the infamous Chute Box clinch.
At one point in the fight, Santos dropped Baszler with a right hand from the cheap seats up against the cage, and was so sure of victory that in a rare display of mercy hopped on top of the cage to celebrate her victory. The problem was that referee Steve Mazzagatti hadn't actually stopped the fight, Santos just figured she had won since she absolutely floored the now recovering Baszler. So, rather than wine and complain about the ref's calls like some over-promoted UFC fighters have been known to do, Santos very nonchalantly (albeit somewhat confusedly) walked back into the center of the cage, and proceeded where she left off.
A few seconds later, despite her gifted moments of recovery, Baszler found herself where she had left off: half dead and laying limp on the canvas. Cris Santos had done her native Brazil proud in her American debut, showcased that she was truly a product of the Chute Box maul squad, stirred talks of a fight with MMA queen Gina Carano, and won this writer's heart - despite his strange attraction to women who could crush him like a Coke can.
It's unclear as to where Santos will fight again since EliteXC found itself belly up after a night of horrid luck, accusations of fight fixing, and overall bad business. Regardless of the organizations shortcomings, many fans can't wait to see Mrs. "Cyborg" dawn the cage again. Make sure to keep your eyes open for this Brazilian warrioress.
Stay tuned for #8 of the MMATorch Top 30 Fights of 2008, which will be revealed with a full article tomorrow.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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