Following the news of the positive steroid test of Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos earlier today there was some questioning of what it meant for Strikeforce and the women’s 145 pound division. Dana White was on ESPN Radio in Las Vegas this evening to say that Cyborg would be stripped and it sounds like 145 is being shut down.
From the radio show (via USA Today):
“We were going to hold that division and just do fights with ‘Cyborg’ whenever there was a new contender,” White told ESPN Radio on Friday. “She’s getting stripped of the title. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”
Scott Coker had his own statement released in a more prepared fashion:
“Strikeforce has not seen the test results regarding Ms. Santos. However, we have a consistent and strong stance against any use of performance-enhancing drugs. We also have a long history of supporting effective drug testing of athletes by authorized regulatory bodies.
“Therefore, we will closely monitor the matter and will work with the California State Athletic Commission regarding any information we may be asked to provide. We also recognize that Ms. Santos has administrative process rights under California law and we hope that she is not prejudged before she has the opportunity to exercise such rights.”
Speaking personally, as someone who has never been a fan of women’s MMA, shutting down 145 seems like the best option. Given the lack of depth across WMMA, it would seem to make the most sense to get everyone into one division and force depth that way.
Cyborg’s positive test may actually turn out to be the best possible thing for WMMA if it creates more depth in a single division and more competitive fights that fans actually want to see.
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