Shayna Baszler vs. Christiane Cyborg: Admit It—the Female Fighters Rocked!

First of all I would just like to go on record as having really enjoyed the Elite XC's production of the Saturday Night's Fights on CBS tonight (7/26/08).  If everyone else wants to be nit picky about tonight's show, be my guest. Just don't do it in my presence because I enjoyed every single fight!

The fight between Shayna Baszler and Christiane Cyborg was the fight I was most excited about.  Of course when I read Shayna's opinion that no one had yet really taken a fight to Cyborg, I knew she was going to step into the eye of a hurricane. But I had no idea just how dangerous it would be for Shayna.

Whew!  It didn't start out too badly and at the end of the first round it looked like Cyborg had won it. Still, Shayna had done pretty well and at one time I thought Shayna actually had Cyborg with a toe lock. My whole leg cramped up in a sympathy charlie horse just watching the women struggling for control.

Even though I would have to give the first round to her opponent, I thought Shayna looked game and confident in her plan as the second round started.

At some point, though, the balance completely shifted. All of the Cyborg's strikes were scoring and Shayna could not weather the storm. When Shayna went down, I, like Cyborg, thought it was all over except for the shouting.

The referee saw it far differently, however, as Cyborg celebrated and Shayna sat panting, gathering her wits and remaining strength while still down on the canvas.

Hoping against hope, I thought that if nothing else Shayna had a lot more time to rest and could possibly come back.  I should have known better.

Even though Cyborg had mounted the cage and raised her arms in victory, she appeared to have a reserve tank, whereas Shayna was running on empty.  She could not recover her composure, but unlike many of the men's fights, there were no tears here.

The women exchanged well-earned hugs and congratulations while Gina Carano practically trembled with excitement at ringside as she watched her future opponent have her hand raised in victory (after the one false stop).

As she was interviewed in the audience, Gina showed dimples as well as excitement, explaining how pumped she was watching her sisters in the brawl.  She is anxious and said she will be ready when the match rolls around.

Of course I choose to believe Gina, although even now I can hear her critics grumbling curses.  Oh well, they have a right to an opinion just as I have. And it all remains to be seen, right sports fans?

Well, I am 62 years old and not getting any younger, but at least now I have something beyond UFC 87 on August 9 to look forward to. I am going to finish my KFC hot wings with no sauce, and dream about it right now!