by John Morgan on Oct 05, 2008 at 10:45 am ET
A collision course can be drawn in relatively little time.
Such is the lesson taught by EliteXC female stars Gina Carano (7-0) and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (6-1). The reigning "Face of Women's MMA" has been headed towards a showdown with the feared Brazilian striker since Cyborg's July EliteXC debut.
After both women were victorious at Saturday night's "EliteXC: Heat," EliteXC Director of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen said the time is quickly approaching.
"I know it's a fight they both want," Lappen said in the post-fight press conference. "We've talked about early next year -- February, March-ish."
Lappen said the scale of the bout could reach heights never-before imagined in relation to women's MMA.
"That's a fight that the fans want to see," Lappen said. "I think it's going to be the biggest fight obviously in female MMA history. I think it will be one of the biggest fights in MMA history. I just think there's that kind of buzz about that fight. So we're extremely excited about putting it on."
Cyborg first came to prominence at her July EliteXC debut in Stockton, Calif. A relative unknown at the time, the Brazilian phenom initially made waves with her chiseled physique at the event's official weigh-ins. Cyborg sported a game to match her frame when she attacked opponent Shayna Baszler with reckless abandon en route to a second-round knockout.
Cyborg earned her place in the proposed matchup with Carano by earning a unanimous decision victory over Yoko Takahashi on Saturday night's un-televised preliminary card. While the bout when the full nine minutes, Cyborg did not fail to display her rabid style of attack.
"You know a lot of times Mike Tyson has been brought up in connection with MMA," Lappen said. "I think the closest thing there is to Mike Tyson in this sport is Cris Cyborg. She's dominating, vicious -- she strikes fear into her opponents before the fight even starts."
Tabbed as a potential star for EliteXC from her very first bout with the organization in February 2007, Carano had won all three of her prior bouts while under contract for the company. Carano also delivered on her end of the bargain Saturday night by holding opponent Kelly Kobold's takedown attempts at bay during a unanimous decision win.
While Carano's striking once again looked crisp and firm, it was her takedown defense and balance that kept her professional record unblemished.
Following the press conference, Lappen told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) how impressed he has been with both fighters.
"Gina obviously has superstar status, and she's the real deal," Lappen said. "She gets a lot of buzz because she's got a lot of mainstream appeal because she's beautiful. But she can really fight. People give her a hard time, but she's stepped up against tougher and tougher competition and she keeps destroying them."
Lappen said the Nov. 8 show would be too soon to bring back the two female stars. Instead the EliteXC executive hopes to have the bout on the organization's first card of 2009. When pressed as to whether the bout would be for the company's inaugural women's championship, Lappen stopped just short of a confirmation.
"I think it's definitely title-worthy."
