Women’s MMAVale Tudo Relics: The Career Arc of Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino
The only female in mixed martial arts history to win championships in four different organizations, Cris Cyborg could have retired after she beat Cat Zingano at Bellator 300 in October 2023. There, she broke yet another record—this one for most consecutive title defenses in Bellator MMA—but the Brazilian, now 39 years old and 27 bouts into her remarkable career, made it a point to express her desire to complete the three fights that remain on her Bellator contract. She calls it her “Legacy Tour.”
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“I am driven by challenges that can add to my legacy and the possibility of finishing my career by unifying the Bellator and PFL titles,” she said. “Winning my fifth belt definitely motivates me.”
In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Cyborg pointed to the
best and worst moments of her professional journey, looked ahead to
her showdown with Pacheco, reflected on her beginnings at
Chute Boxe and chose her dream retirement fight.
FROM HANDBALL TO VALE TUDO
As the daughter of divorced parents and an alcoholic father, Cyborg realized her athletic aptitude at an early age. She discovered handball at school as a 12-year-old and decided to dedicate herself to the sport. Cyborg had already joined the state team in Parana by the time she started studying physical education in college at the age of 18.
Everything changed one day after Cyborg stole the spotlight in a training match with men. She was invited by Jorge Karam, a friend’s father who was impressed by her athleticism, to train muay thai at Chute Boxe. “Every time Jorginho met me, he insisted that I go to Chute Boxe,” she said. “I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to go.” Cyborg attended a class taught by Rafael Cordeiro but did not have the courage to join initially. She returned the next day and has continued training ever since.
“The first thing I thought: How did I not discover this before?” said Cyborg, who was forced to spar with males due to the absence of females in most classes. Impressed by her potential, Chute Boxe frontman Rudimar Fedrigo invited her to represent the team at a vale tudo event in San Paulo, Brazil, in May 2005, just four months after she started training. “I barely knew what jiu-jitsu was,” Cyborg said, “and I didn’t even know that there was a huge rivalry between [Brazilian Top Team] and Chute Boxe when I went into that fight with Erica Paes.”
As soon as the bout began, BTT’s Paes dropped to bottom position in guard. “I tried to jump over her legs while trying to stomp her face, but I stopped at her legs, fell to the ground and dislocated my left arm, and the fight was stopped,” Cyborg said. “A lot of people thought I tapped out because she had attacked a leglock, but in fact, it was because I dislocated my arm.” The setback in Cyborg’s debut only made her more certain that she wanted to pursue MMA further.
“That adrenaline infected me, and the defeat only motivated me to train much more,” she said. “The most correct popular saying there is that a fighter learns the most in defeat.” More than 13 years would pass before Cyborg lost again. “Fortunately, I didn’t have this chance,” she said. “I had to learn to correct my mistakes and evolve in victories.”
LOVE AT FIRST STRIKE
The period of greatest evolution for “Cyborg” undoubtedly took place after her first defeat, which spurred her decision to leave college in order to focus 100% of her efforts on training.
“My mother and my entire family was angry with me, but I was already 20 years old and knew that if I wanted to stand out, I would have to dedicate myself to it full time,” Cyborg said. “Since then, I simply haven’t missed any of Master Cordeiro’s training. I trained morning, afternoon and night.”
It was during this immersion into MMA that Cyborg met one of the most experienced members of the team: Evangelista Santos, better known as “Cyborg.” He had moved from Rondonopolis to Curitiba, where he took up residence at the gym. It was love at first strike. Cyborg and Santos were soon inseparable.
“From the beginning of dating to marriage, it took six months,” she said. “I not only learned a lot from him but also absorbed his aggressive style.” Cyborg soon became the only woman training with the men on the main Chute Boxe team, which included Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio Rua, Murilo Rua and Luiz Azeredo. “That was the peak of the Chute Boxe team,” she said. “I grew a lot as an athlete watching Wanderlei, ‘Shogun,’ ‘Ninja,’ Azeredo and ‘Cyborg.’ I have a little bit of each of them in my style.”
Given the dedication Cyborg had shown, Fedrigo—with his unique flair for recognizing future champions—decided to bet big on his new pupil and placed her in the Storm Samurai 9 main event opposite the more experienced Vanessa Porto on Nov. 20, 2005, a little more than six months after her debut. The two women did not disappoint, their crowd-pleasing confrontation marked by 15 minutes of aggressive striking and submission attacks. Cyborg was awarded a unanimous decision in what was the first women’s bout to headline an MMA event in Brazil. After she defeated Porto, Cyborg went onto score three straight first-round knockouts and became nationally known, making it difficult for Fedrigo to find fights in Brazil.
“Since I didn’t have any opponents,” Cyborg said, “I took the opportunity to compete in wrestling.”
Cyborg, whose legal name is Cristiane Justino, was well aware that the international market was her eventual destination. The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s purchase of Pride Fighting Championships in 2007 triggered a major crisis at Chute Boxe, as the aforementioned Silva, “Shogun” and “Ninja” left the team to fly solo and open their own gyms. Nevertheless, by 2008, Fedrigo had positioned Cyborg for her long-awaited United States debut with EliteXC.
“Up until then, I was known as Cris ‘Chute Boxe,’” she said, “but as fighters out there always have a nickname, Master Rafael suggested that I use Cris ‘Cyborg,’ and it has remained that way to this day.”
Cyborg was sensational in her EliteXC debut against Shayna Baszler, a 14-fight veteran with nine submission wins already under her belt. The Brazilian stopped Baszler with punches in the second round and returned to the cage three months later to meet Yoko Takahashi, a former Smackgirl champion out of Japan. Cyborg imposed her will, earned a unanimous decision and went on to sign with Strikeforce. A third-round technical knockout of Hitomi Akano in her promotional debut put Cyborg in position to face Gina Carano for the inaugural Strikeforce women’s featherweight championship on Aug. 15, 2009. Once again, the Brazilian impressed and forced a stoppage against the previously unbeaten Carano in the last second of the first round.
“It was the first time that a women’s MMA fight had such an impact in the United States, and it was even broadcast on CBS,” Cyborg said. “People called it Beauty against the Beast. That fight was a milestone in my career in terms of recognition among American fans.”
FROM SUSPENSION TO RELOCATION
Cordeiro’s arrival in California in 2010 and the opening of his Kings MMA gym offered Cyborg a better, more stable training structure in the United States. After dominant victories over Marloes Coenen and Jan Finney, “Cyborg” ran over Hiroko Yamanaka in just 16 seconds at Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” on Dec. 17, 2011.
However, Cyborg was flagged for stanozolol, a banned anabolic steroid. The result of the Yamanaka fight was changed to a no contest, and Cyborg received a one-year suspension and a $2,500 fine as punishment, along with being stripped of her title. “I took a supplement to help lose weight,” she said, “and I didn’t know it contained an illegal substance.” Cyborg accepted blame for not consulting with a physician beforehand. After serving the California Athletic Commission-imposed suspension, “Cyborg” linked arms with Invicta Fighting Championships. The doping incident remains a stain on her otherwise-pristine reputation.
“I’ve been fighting for almost 20 years, almost 30 fights, and I’ve been tested by USADA since 2013, when I joined Invicta,” she said. “I’ve never had any problems since, so any association of my legacy with steroids is absurd.”
Fiona Muxlow greeted Cyborg upon her return at Invicta 5 and succumbed to knee strikes and punches in a little less than four minutes. Three months later, “Cyborg” rematched Coenen for the inaugural Invicta featherweight championship and once again proved to be far too much for the Dutch grappler to handle. Cyborg scored a fourth-round technical knockout in the Invicta 6 main event on July 13, 2013. She showed progress in all phases and even took down Coenen on more than one occasion.
However, the utter dominance with which she disposed of Muxlow and Coenen created a problem for the organization. Invicta matchmakers suddenly had difficulty finding opponents for “Cyborg,” so much so that she did not defend her title for almost two years. She made her way back to the cage in February 2015 and knocked out Charmaine Tweet in 46 seconds, then proceeded to rout Faith in 45 seconds some four months later.
DUD OF A RIVALRY
By this time, Ronda Rousey had already lined up five opponents in the UFC and fans had begun to dream about a clash-of-styles showdown between the two brightest female stars in the MMA sky. UFC President Dana White signed “Cyborg” in 2016, not long after she wrecked Daria Ibragimova in her final appearance with Invicta.
One question lingered in everyone’s mind: Could Cyborg drop from featherweight to bantamweight for the long-awaited battle with Rousey. “Cyborg” made her Octagon debut opposite Leslie Smith at a 140-pound catchweight at UFC 198. It could not have gone better for her. Cyborg needed just 81 seconds to turn away Smith with punches before 45,207 fans at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil, not far from where she got her start at Chute Boxe. It was the largest crowd ever to witness a mixed martial arts event in Brazil.
“It was probably the most exciting moment of my career, to debut in the UFC fighting in front of my fans at home,” Cyborg said, “so much so that I had to control myself to not cry when I entered.”
Cyborg won her first five fights in the UFC, but the clash with Rousey never materialized. The former Olympic bronze medalist suffered a stunning knockout loss to Holly Holm in 2015, took a year off and got blasted into retirement by Amanda Nunes.
“Everyone wanted to see this fight with Ronda,” Cyborg said. “I did everything to make this fight happen, including reaching my physical limit to make weight and reach her category. She decided to quit.”
Some bad blood still exists between the two.
“I think that she didn’t know how to deal with defeat, and deciding to stop at a young age made her frustrated and resentful, so much so that she started talking badly, even to her own fans, and constantly attacking me with this story about anabolic steroids,” Cyborg said. “It’s sad to see this, but I sincerely wish the best for her. She was without a doubt a very important person for our sport. I hope she can solve this problem and one day be happy.”
WINDS OF CHANGE
The UFC eventually created a women’s featherweight division, largely to accommodate “Cyborg,” and paved the way for her to capture a third championship. She achieved the feat at UFC 214, where she stopped Tonya Evinger with a volley of third-round knee strikes. Cyborg successfully defended the title in back-to-back victories over Holm and Yana Kunitskaya, completing a remarkable 21-fight unbeaten streak that spanned more than 12 years.
With that, it was time for a blockbuster confrontation with Nunes, then the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. Based on the records Nunes was setting at 135 pounds, she knew a decisive victory over “Cyborg” had the potential to make her the greatest female mixed martial artist of all-time in the minds of many. She was up to the challenge, as she knocked out Cyborg just 51 seconds into their UFC 232 co-main event on Dec. 29, 2018. Once “Cyborg” regained consciousness, her spirit of sportsmanship rose to the forefront, as she walked over to embrace and congratulate Nunes. Cyborg still believes she has the superior resume.
“Amanda undoubtedly has great merits, but if we take into account criteria such as longevity, invincibility and number of belts won, there is no way to compare our legacies,” she said. “I have four belts. She has one. I was undefeated for 13 years. She was undefeated for six. I also tried so hard to make the rematch, and she always ran.”
Despite the loss to Nunes, Cyborg’s story was far from over. She went on to defeat Felicia Spencer at UFC 240, fulfilling the final fight on her contract. Cyborg had some well-publicized disagreements with White and elected to move to Bellator MMA, where she made her organizational debut in January 2020 by knocking out Julia Budd to capture the Bellator women’s featherweight crown. The Brazilian has since defended the title five times in victories over Smith, Arlene Blencowe (twice), Cat Zingano and Sinead Kavanagh.
The Professional Fighters League’s acquisition of Bellator in 2023 has opened up other opportunities for Cyborg. She squares off with Pacheco for yet another title in a little more than two weeks. Cyborg respects the skills and determination her countrywoman brings to the table.
“Larissa has evolved a lot in recent years,” Cyborg said. “I always go in to play on the opponent’s weak points and define the fight before the end, but if it’s five rounds of beatings, I’ll be prepared and ready for it.”
DREAM FAREWELL
Once she faces Pacheco, Cyborg will have only two more fights on her Bellator contract and has made it clear she does not intend to renew it.
“That’s why I’m calling it the Legacy Tour,” she said. “There are three farewell fights. Next year, I will be 40. It will be 20 years of fighting MMA, with four belts from different organizations. These next fights have to make sense for my legacy.” When asked to choose a dream scenario between a rematch with Nunes and the long-sought clash with Rousey, “Cyborg” did not hesitate. “Without a doubt, the rematch with Amanda,” she said. “I evolved a lot after that defeat and did everything in my power to make this rematch happen, but she never wanted to.”
Cyborg has also mended fences with White, who could someday clear a path to the UFC Hall of Fame for the Brazilian juggernaut.
“I already talked to Dana. We’re at peace now,” she said. “Regarding the hall of fame, I think my achievements are there. I don’t have this need to be recognized in the hall of fame, but for everything I’ve achieved, I would obviously be very happy to have this recognition.”
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