(Disclaimer: The following is the opinion and interpretation of the author and the author alone. This article does not express the views or opinion of any member of Team Choco except the author.)

The Flying Armbar Vol. 2

By: Wil Santos

"How Cristiane Santos Ruined Women's MMA!"

      The date was August 15, 2009. The place was San Jose, California. History was about to be made as, for the first time ever, a female bout would be featured as the headline of a professional MMA event.  The card was presented by Skrikeforce, the second most successful MMA company in North America. It was a great time to be a fan of mma. The event was highly promoted, and would be televised on national television. However, unknown to the fan packed arena of over 14,000 strong, as well as thousands watching live on the Showtime network, the popularity of women's MMA was about.... to die.

Seems like some pretty harsh words doesn't it? Well, in order to fully understand the significance of the curb stomping brought on Gina Carano  by Cristiane Santos on that fateful day, you have to look at the state of professional women's mixed martial arts leading up to that event. You take a huge risk as a company anytime you decide to invest time and money into highlighting women in a professional combat event. Why? It's simple really. We live in a culture where if you are born with a certain set of genitals, you are automatically predisposed to be more interested in dresses, dolls, cooking, and the color pink in general. Parents don't necessarily raise their daughters hoping they will learn how to cause bodily harm to others as well as willing to risk to having bodily harm done to themselves. The question of whether this is right or wrong is something we have to talk about on another day. Our culture in general does not want to see women beat the crap out of other women. Sure, there are a select few of us who appreciate combat athletes regardless of their sex, but we are most definitely in the minority. As a result, women's MMA is seen more like a circus act rather than a respectable sport in the eyes of casual American fans. It's easy to see why more company's do not advertise more female against female competition. Does the UFC, the most dominant promoter of MMA in the world, or its sister company, the WEC, have a female division? No. The most likely reason? In Dana White's mind (president of the UFC), it would be bad for business.

This is not to say that combat athletes who just so happen to be female are less interesting or any less skilled than their male counterparts. Not at all. There are many women who are amazing at their chosen sport.

Kyra Gracie for example, is a 3 time world BJJ champion (2004,2006, 2008) as well as a two time Abu Dhabi Combat Club champion (2005, 2007). On a side note, I would love to get in her guard on a hot summers day. Probably not as much as I would enjoy her mounting me, but I digress.

Enter Gina Carano. "Conviction" Carano was blessed with something that's not too common among professional female mma competitors. The fact is, she is hotter than a wool sweater in the sauna. But hey, don't take my word for it. Maxim Magazine, a leading men's magazine, placed her at number 16 on their May 2009 edition of the Hot 100 list. She is also one of the cover athletes for the October 2009 edition of the ESPN Body Issue Magazine, where she modeled wearing only mma gloves and shorts. It's currently the number one selling ESPN Body Issue ever. Not to mention having a stint playing "Crush" on American Gladiators, as well as being a coach/mentor on the Oxygen networks reality TV series, "Fight Girls". I bet you didn't even know that show existed huh? Well, during my research, I found myself watching a few episodes, and it is very well put together.

Not only does she bring killer looks to the table, but she also has legitimate credentials to back up the hype around her abilities. She started her fight career in muay-thai kickboxing, gaining a record of 12-1-1. Her second MMA bout was the first ever sanctioned female MMA bout in Las Vegas, Nevada where she defeated Roni Sexton via second round knockout. She has been widely regarded as the "face" of modern female MMA, with the ability to give good interviews and having several sponsors at her side such as Xyience.

So, for the first time in probably ever, it was ok to want to watch females kick the crap out of each other. Gina Carano was taking the lead in the sudden surge of interest in womens mma in pop culture. It was starting to become the "it" thing to catch one of her matches. It was becoming "cool." As a result, casual fans were starting to realize that you can be gorgeous, and make a living out of getting punched in the face at the same time. It was entertaining.

Things we're looking pretty good for Gina and womens mma. (No pun intended.) Then, she was scheduled to face Cristiane Santos for the Strikeforce womens middleweight championship.

Cristiane Justino Venancio Santos is a 24 year old, 145lbs walking engine of destruction who's strategy consists of plowing through her opponents like an angry bulldozer. Don't get me wrong, this article is in no way meant to disrespect this fighter, or to critique her skills and abilities. I am a huge fan of her work ethic as well as the raw intensity she brings to the cage. She is a purple belt in BJJ and has won 7 out 10 of her professional MMA bouts via TKO or KO. Truthfully, I wouldn't want to run into her in a dark alleyway. I'm pretty sure she could man-rape me if she wanted to.

Cristiane put it best during one of her interviews with mmaworldwide.com right before her fight with Gina. I will paraphrase her statement. "Beauty will not win this fight. Hard training will win this fight" This is also not to say that she is unattractive either. She is physically fit, and has the features of a battle hardened warrior. Unfortunately, as I alluded to before, we live in a fickle society and her physique has been negatively critiqued by many casual fans.

So the stage was set, and in 4:59 seconds of the first round, "Cyborg" claimed the championship in dramatic fashion. But while she was celebrating her victory, thousands had lost faith in Gina, and with that, their attention to this growing art. What evidence do we have to support this? Well, Santos successfully defended her crown on January 30th, 2010. Without looking, can you name me her opponent? Ask yourself that same question in regards to any other mma champion you know. Also, do you know how many female weight divisions there are in Strikeforce? I'll give you a hint, it's more than one. Gina has not competed since her loss, and is instead following the Rampage Jackson handbook and filming a movie tentatively titled "Knockout". So, why the sudden loss of interest?

Well, unfortunately, Cristiane knows very limited english, which would make it extremely hard to put her as a guest on, let's say, Jay Leno, to promote her victory. Any American television appearances are out the window. As we established before, she is attractive, but not nearly as much as Gina. So, appearances in magazines like Maxim magazine are probably out too. Both mediums are crucial for the promotion of any growing sport. So what's left? Interviews in MMA magazines and websites. And while fans of the sport will visit these sites and pay for these magazines regardless if she was featured or not, the fact is that the casual fan, the fans that we depend on to make any professional event grow, don't even know that these mediums exist. And then there's the fact that truly, there really isn't another contender that the promotion can build any hype around that seems like a viable threat to her throne. As far as promoting anything exciting, she is a victim of her own dominance. Very similar to Anderson Silva. Pacquiao VS Mayweather might possibly make close to half a billion dollars in profit. Santos VS Finney? Not so much.

So while Santos may be revered as the best female fighter in the world, her days of being able to prove it and become the major draw on any professional mma card again might be shorter than anyone might have anticipated. While I am a huge fan of mma in general, I doubt I will see another event where a female bout will be promoted as the main event of the evening. Which is unfortunate. The saddest part being that it was unintentionally caused by one single match.

Would Gina Carano have single handedly brought women's MMA to the forefront of entertainment and sponsorship? We may never know the answer to that question. All we know is that in our society, the loser normally doesn't get the spotlight. Which is a raw deal any way you cut it, but it's simply the way it is.

Looking back at everything, maybe the title of this article should have been "How The Casual Fan Ruined Women's MMA." But then again, maybe you wouldn't have been so excited to read it in the first place. Would you?

That’s a wrap for volume 2! For our next installment, I decided that we should all take a trip back to our roots.  It's time that everyone  stepped into my secret time machine and visited

"The Origin of BJJ, For Dummies"!

Another side note, check out fightergirls.com.  It's a great website dedicated specifically to female mma.

As always, comment! Discuss! Debate! (In the Fighters Forum)

See you at practice!