In a match-up that probably gets a few head scratches and bewildered looks, current Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (9-1, 3-0 SF) will attempt to defend her belt for the second time as she battles established veteran Jan Finney (8-7, 0-1 SF). Santos won the Strikeforce title in a first round stoppage against Gina Carano back in August, and she defended the belt successfully against Dutch fighter Marloes Coenen in January.
Finney has had a solid run of success as of late. She is 4-0 since her defeat at the hands of Erin Toughill at PFC 11 back in November of 2008. Her streak includes wins over Marissa Caldwell and Brighton Hutton, fighting both bouts within six days of one another. She also defeated Lizbeth Carreiro, and won a split decision over highly-successful veteran Adrienna Jenkins in her most recent bout in March.
I suppose we can’t throw all the blame at Scott Coker or Strikeforce in this instance of matchmaking. After all, Finney has had some success, and I don’t want to take anything away from her as a potential spoiler in this fight. The fact that some of the better fighters in the women’s featherweight division have been snatched up by other promotions or scheduled for fights later in the year certainly hurts Strikeforce’s prospects at bringing more competitve fights to the table. But Santos’ unbelievably dominant style and immense strength create this all to familiar aura around this fight. An aura that inspires confidence in Santos as a sure pick to win.
Of course, mixed martial arts has destroyed that aura in a split second on multiple occasions. Could that happen here? Sure, but the analytical thinker wouldn’t put much faith in it. Finney has proven that she has knockout power, but it hasn’t been as evident against upper-echelon competition. She also went through a bad spell from 2005 to 2008 in losing a majority of her battles against some of the better competition in the division in those days. Three losses to Julie Kedzie, a submission loss to Shayna Baszler, and a close decision loss to Meisha Tate fill her record. She also lost a decision to Erin Toughill, a woman who many feel is the only physical challenge for Santos in women’s MMA, to a decision at a higher weight class.
I hate to be a downer on a fighter who has obviously worked her way up to an unique opportunity to fight the best in the world in Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, but this match-up seems to be tailor made for Santos to win. Just watching her workout routines is enough for me to pick her, even if I had never seen her fight in my life.
Finney has a shot if she can catch Santos aggressively coming in to flurry or possibly a knee to the chin if she shoots. Other than that, Santos’ strength will neutralize anything Finney attempts in order to stop from being mauled. I think she’ll finish off Finney in the first round, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the underdog put up quite a fight. I don’t see it happening though.