The Real Threat in Carano vs Cyborg – Weight
The Real Threat in Carano vs Cyborg – Weight
BY KEITH KUEHN
Women’s MMA is moving toward the mainstream more every day, and the face of womens mma is said to be Gina Carano. With a 7-0 record, Gina has solidified herself as one of the most devastating women’s mixed martial artist out there. She’s got a solid ground game and even better striking. This August 15th, however, her skill will truly be put to the test when she faces the always intense Cris Cyborg. This match shall remain in the history books as one of the most important moments in mma, as the first ever Strikeforce 145 lb. Women’s title will be handed out. But there is still one opponent standing in their way.
That opponent is the August 14th weigh-ins. It’s no secret that both Gina and Cris have had trouble making weight for their fights, but this time there are no excuses. This time it’s a title fight. To miss weight here could mean a tremendous loss in the credibility of women’s MMA. This time there can’t be any exceptions. To be a champion, you have to play by the same rules as every other champion out there.
Cris “Cyborg” Santos has a nasty habit of being on the larger side of her opponents. In her last fight against Hitomi Akano, Cyborg weighed in at 152 pounds, 7 pounds over her weight class. She got her weight down to 149.5, which was enough for the athletics commission to let her fight, but she was fined 20% of her total purse. In her fight before that, against Yoko Takahashi, both the women weighed in at 148.5, missing the weight class of 140 by 8.5 pounds.
Don’t be mistaken, no one is putting all the blame on Santos. Gina Carano hasn’t had the best of luck making weight herself. In her recent fight against Kelly Kobold, she weighed in 2.5 pounds over weight. She eventually made it down to 141, the same weight as Kelly, when she stripped bare and and had a towel held in front of her. In her fight against Kaitlin Young, Carano also failed to make weight coming in at 144.5, four and a half pounds over the intended weight class, she then agreed to forfeit 12.5% of her purse for not making weight.
While you’ll find no argument that, in time, there has to be more weight classes issued to the women’s division, it is still their duty to make the weight required to fight. As women’s MMA makes its way into the main stream and more female fighters start joining the ranks, there will be more options of which weight to make your home. Until then, due to the lack of similar weights between women fighters, there is only the one weight class that they all are required to make in Strikeforce. That may change after August 15th if both of these fighters can make weight and solidify the credibility of the sport they’ve fought so hard to get recognized. It could explode women’s MMA into the mainstream and inspire women to move forward with their passion of fighting. However, if these women fail to make weight, it could put women’s MMA two steps back, where they will have to build their way back up again. To be taken seriously, you have to take yourself seriously. If they can prove that women want this as bad as the men it could mean more weight classes and a possible step toward a women’s division in the UFC.
As the days pass and the most important fight of their careers creep closer, these women have to do everything they can to shed the pounds. There should not be any deductions from the purse and no exceptions if they weigh over this time. Everything has to be conducted in a professional manner this to prove that women fighters can overcome the obstacles like the men do. Yes, you want to put on a fierce and fast paced fight, but first you have to worry about making it there. So as the hunger sets in and you start drooling over the fast food commercials on TV, just remember one thing; the future of women’s MMA relies on you making the required weight this time.
