Just a short time ago, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos not only ruled the realm of women’s mixed martial arts, she was widely recognized as an unbeatable figure in the sparse landscape. After losing her professional debut in 2005, Santos would string together a 10 fight unbeaten streak, defeating some high profiles opponents in the process, while being forced to fight to the distance just twice.
The Brazilian’s abnormally chiseled physique and pronounced jawline have long cast suspicions as to whether or not the former 145 pound Strikeforce champion is a steroid user. After failing a pre-fight drug screening prior to her December 17th, 2011 throttling of Hiroko Yamanaka at Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal”, the speculation can rest. Santos’ test showed traces of the popular steroid, stanozolol, which is commonly utilized to increase lean muscle mass while promoting rapid water weight loss. It’s also, quite obviously, a banned performance enhancer.
Cyborg has made an attempt to play naïve, though it’s extremely improbable that she was unaware of the intake. Despite attempting to appeal the results of the drug test, Cyborg has been stripped of her Strikeforce title, fined $2,500 and suspended for one year. With Dana White openly stating that the Strikeforce women’s 145 pound division will now face dismantling (as the division was kept afloat to showcase Cyborg’s talents exclusive, as was also stated by White), a few lingering questions remain.
Will Santos opt to avoid using PED’s in the future, and better yet, where might the dominant champion now compete? With the female division of MMA struggling to maintain its foothold with fans and promoters, the future appears extremely limited for the once praised powerhouse. With few American promotions hosting women’s bouts, we may well see Cyborg migrate to Japan where the talent pool is certainly deep; that avenue may also enable her to avoid drug testing in the future, as the Japanese have always been a bit more lax in regards to drug screening.




Luke’s displayed a likeable personality, and a respectable as well as respectful approach to the sport. He’s also the owner of a finely polished skill set that’s enabled him to amass an impressive 9-1 professional record, capture the Strikeforce middleweight championship and hold on to it. In short, he has all the tools to be a legitimate star in this sport, despite the fact that he still flies under the radar due to the fairly limited audience in which he’s exposed to.













