Cris Cyborg

Cristiane Justino Venâncio (born July 9, 1985), known professionally by her ring name Cris Cyborg (and formerly by her married name Cristiane Santos), is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist who as of January 2021 competes in Bellator MMA, where she is the current Bellator Women's Featherweight Champion, having held the title since January 2020.

She is also a former UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta FC World Featherweight Champion.

She is the only MMA fighter in history to become a Grand Slam Champion, holding world championships across four major mixed martial arts promotions.

Cyborg is widely regarded as one of the greatest female mixed martial artists of all time.

Cyborg was born Cristiane Justino Venâncio on July 9, 1985, in Curitiba to Brazilian parents.

A daughter of divorced parents and a father who had problems with alcoholism, Cristiane Justino started her sports career at the age of twelve, playing handball at a national level in Brazil.

Due to her success in the sport, she won numerous athletic scholarships on private universities after her high school graduation, and eventually chose to pursue the path of physical education in the capital of Paraná, Curitiba.

Later, she planned to move to the city of Cascavel to become a professional handball player and finish her college studies there, before being discovered by Rudimar Fedrigo, a Chute Boxe Academy trainer who was impressed by her physical size and advised her to enter the world of fighting.

"I was participating in a friendly handball tournament between men and women and one of the boys, called Jorginho, was a friend of Mestre Rafael and Mestre Rudimar. He saw me training handball and asked me if I liked fighting. I replied that I thought it was cool, but I had never done it. He invited me to take a Muay Thai class and I liked it!"

Justino, without yet incorporating the nickname "Cyborg", made her professional debut in mixed martial arts at the age of 19 on May 17, 2005, at Showfight 2 against multiple time world BJJ champion Erica Paes.

Paes, who was five years her senior, was the first woman to train at the legendary Brazilian Top Team academy, a rival gym of the Chute Boxe gym where Cyborg trained.

She made her anticipated United States MMA debut on July 26, 2008, against Shayna Baszler at EliteXC: Unfinished Business.

She won the fight by TKO in the second round.

She faced Yoko Takahashi on October 4, 2008, at EliteXC: Heat, winning the fight by unanimous decision.

Cyborg first rose to prominence when she won the Strikeforce title on August 15, 2009, by defeating Gina Carano via first-round technical knock-out (TKO).

As of March 29, 2021, she is #1 in the Bellator Women's pound-for-pound Rankings.

She was scheduled to face Dutch submission specialist Marloes Coenen at XMMA 7 on February 27, 2009, but backed out of the fight after signing a new contract with Strikeforce.

Cyborg earned a BJJ Purple Belt under her jiu-jitsu instructor Cristiano Marcello in 2009.

She later signed to fight for Strikeforce, which greatly increased the chance that a fight with Gina Carano would take place.

In her Strikeforce debut, she faced Hitomi Akano on April 11, 2009, at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz.

Cyborg came in six pounds overweight for the fight.

Akano originally rejected the fight due to Cyborg failing to make weight but later accepted the fight.

She defeated Akano by TKO in the third round.

Before the fight with Carano, Cyborg was interviewed by mmaworldwide.com's reporter Aaron Tru.

When asked how long it would take to submit Carano with a choke hold, she choked him.

She fought Gina Carano on August 15, 2009, at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg for the Women's Featherweight Championship.

Cyborg won via TKO at 4:59 of the 5:00 first round.

The card was the first time that a major promotion had featured a main event between women.

After the match, she hugged Carano, and stated in her interview that she had the utmost respect for Carano, and that it was an honor to fight her.

She next defended her title against Dutch standout Marloes Coenen at a Strikeforce event on January 30, 2010.

She won the fight via TKO at 3:40 of round 3.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated that the next challenger for Cyborg would most likely be Erin Toughill.

However, Toughill later announced her intentions to leave Strikeforce and plans for the fight were cancelled.

On April 7, 2010, Coker stated that Cyborg would fight again in June.

She faced Jan Finney at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum and won the fight via KO in the second round.

Her contract with Strikeforce expired on June 26, 2011.

Cyborg lost the fight via submission in the first round, which remained her only professional loss in MMA until 2018, when she lost for the second time in her career against Amanda Nunes.

Although the method of win for Paes was officially recorded as a submission due to a kneebar, Cyborg's team claims that she tapped out due to an elbow injury sustained after a fall in the fight.

After losing her MMA debut, Cyborg earned her first victory in the sport by defeating Vanessa Porto via unanimous decision.

She subsequently won her next three fights in the Brazilian promotion Storm Samurai via first-round TKO finish, improving her record to 4-1.