For months, Gina Carano's looks were featured to hype her historic bout with Cris "Cyborg" Santos.
Well, Carano's pretty features took a significant beating to close Strikeforce's show Saturday night as Santos stopped Carano with one second left in the first round of the first-ever women's main event on a major on MMA card.
In the fight to crown the women's 145-pound champion, Cyborg came out guns blazing, threatening Carano early with a flurry of strikes and a leg lock following a takedown.
Undeterred, Carano answered with a takedown of her own and demonstrated spirited action on the feet and on the ground. Despite fending off Cyborg's impetuous pace, Carano ultimately succumbed to the stifling top control and ferocious ground-and-pound from the physically imposing opponent.
In the postfight press conference, Santos expressed her joy of reaping the fruits of years of hard work that enabled her to defeat the face of women's MMA.
In one of the featured undercard fights, Gegard Mousasi made his United States MMA debut in style, finishing former UFC star Renato "Babalu" Sobral in one devastating minute to capture the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship.
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Mousasi rose to stardom in Japan and has unquestionably been one of the most hyped prospects of the past few years, but Sobral represented the most talented fighter he's faced thus far in his MMA career.
Mousasi rose to the challenge, however, getting Sobral to the ground and then finishing the fight with hard shots on the ground.
In the interim lightweight title bout, Gilbert Melendez not only earned the ticket to challenge Josh Thomson for Lightweight title, but avenged one of his two career losses.
From the outset, Melendez and Mitsuhiro Ishida sought to set an aggressive pace, eager to pounce on the smallest of an opportunity. Melendez successfully defended Ishida's vaunted lightning quick takedowns and stymied his opponent with better striking instinct. Melendez's measured aggression gradually overwhelmed Ishida, as Melendez pounded Ishida out on the ground in the third round.
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