On Saturday, August 15, 2009, Strikeforce will host the biggest fight in women's MMA history with Strikeforce - Carano vs. Cyborg. The event will take place in Strikeforce's hometown at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The fight card will be headlined by women for the first time in MMA history, as the top two women in the world Gina "Conviction" Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos take center stage in the evening's main event, which will be televised on Showtime along with the rest of the main card.

Gina "Conviction" Carano has captured the attention of almost everyone involved in MMA and even more outside of MMA, since she decided to crossover into the sport in June 2006. After compiling an impressive 12-1-1 professional Muay Thai career, she quickly sought out jiu-jitsu instruction from Cobra Kai and wrestling instruction from Xtreme Couture, while continuing to refine her already potent May Thai skills at Master Toddy's school in her hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. It didn't take long before her dominating style and cover girl looks caught the attention of Strikeforce, where she won her third MMA fight in December 2006. Her next fight took place under the EliteXC banner, where she would defeat Julie Kedzie on Showtime, which happened to be the first women's MMA bout ever shown on cable television. In her next bout in September 2007, she would secure her first submission win via Rear Naked Choke over Tonya Evinger, which showed the progression of Carano as a Mixed Martial Artist.

After this bout, her star really began to shine as she appeared as the Gladiator "Crush" on NBC's competition television show American Gladiators. She would introduce her new fan following back to the sport of MMA, where she would return in May 2008. She defeated Kaitlin Young via TKO on the main card, which aired live on CBS. This marked the first time a MMA event aired in primetime on major American network television. She would go on to defeat Young's teammate Kelly Kobold via Unanimous Decision in October 2008 in the final EliteXC show, which was also televised live on CBS. That brings us to 2009, where Carano would return to Strikeforce, after they acquired most of the contracts of the now defunct EliteXC organization. In doing so, they now serve as the world's premier MMA organization for female fighters. Strikeforce was also eager to set up the match that every MMA fan has been waiting to see, since women's MMA started gaining mainstream attention. After securing a new deal with Showtime earlier this year, Strikeforce announced that Gina Carano would be facing Cristiane Santos for the Strikeforce women's featherweight (145 lbs.) championship of the world.

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos is a native of Brazil and is married to fellow Strikeforce fighter and PRIDE veteran Evangelista Santos. Both Cyborgs are natives of Brazil and train out of the famed Chute Boxe Academy, which was made famous during PRIDE's heyday by fearsome strikers such as Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, Anderson Silva, and Jose Landi-Jons. Even though the aforementioned fighters have gone their separate ways and started their own schools, the aggressive trademark style that has made Chute Boxe fighters famous is still alive and well in Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. After dropping her first professional bout via leg lock in 2005, she has been unstoppable. This includes mowing down all three of her opponents on Showtime, since making her American debut with the EliteXC last summer. Two of those bouts took place in the now defunct EliteXC and her most previous outing took place in Strikeforce in April. Her bout against Carano on Saturday night will determine who is the undisputed #1 female fighter world. The winner of Carano vs. Cyborg will be crowned the first ever Strikeforce women's featherweight (145 lbs.) champion. The bout will also be contested under the same five five-minute rounds that men's title fights are contested under.

The main card will also feature a Light-Heavyweight Title Bout between Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral and DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix champion Gegard Mousasi. Also scheduled for a five five-minute rounds will be an Interim Lightweight Title Bout between Strikeforce interim lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez and Mitsuhiro Ishida, who is the man responsible for the first loss on Melendez's record. The fourth bout that is guaranteed to air on Showtime will be a heavyweight tilt between two UFC veterans, as jiu-jitsu specialist Fabricio Werdum takes on the heavy-handed Mike Kyle. The swing-bout of the evening, which will air with time permitting, will be a welterweight clash between former IFL welterweight champion Jay Hieron and former TUF 7 standout Jesse Taylor.


Main Card:

-Gina Carano vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (Women's Featherweight Title Bout)

-Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi (Light-Heavyweight Title Bout)

-Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (Interim Lightweight Title Bout)

-Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle (Heavyweight Bout)


Preliminary Card:

-Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor (Welterweight Bout)

-Scott Lighty vs. Mike Cook (Light-Heavyweight Bout)

-David Douglas vs. Justin Wilcox (Lightweight Bout)

-James Terry vs. Zak Bucia (Welterweight Bout)

-Isaiah Hill vs. Alex Trevino (Lightweight Bout)