In a move that makes the eventual signing of Carano to Strikeforce practically inevitable, Cyborg Santos signed with Strikeforce today:
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos agreed to a world-exclusive, four-fight deal over the weekend with the promotion, which landed a multi-year agreement last week to broadcast up to 16 events a year on Showtime, along with an additional four shows on CBS.
"We’ve invited Gina to fight on the first card, but I can’t confirm yet if she’ll be fighting," said Afromowitz.
Negotiations between Carano’s management and Strikeforce continue this week, presumably to bolster the fighter’s pay purse for future bouts. Carano earned only $25,000 for her victory over Kelly Kobold last October, but has garnered attention the world over as "the face of women’s MMA."
I think at this point Carano signing is a matter of time. I've heard from people close to her camp that she just wants to fight already at this point, though it looks like she will not be getting her wish of an immediate fight with Cyborg.
The other noteworthy aspect of the Loretta's article is Strikeforce's decision to make its contracts exclusive. This was not the case for them in the past, and it will be interesting to see if they convert all of their non-exclusive contracts into exclusive deals.
