Interview: Cris "Cyborg" Santos Talks Gina Carano, Josh Barnett, and More

After weeks of build-up to her fight with “the face of women’s MMA,” Cris “Cyborg” Santos has had enough of the “Beauty and the Beast” comparisons.  Talking with her via her interpreter this week, her frustration with the popular media storyline for the Strikeforce main event bout against Gina Carano was palpable, as was her lingering resentment towards Josh Barnett for the remarks he made about her inability to make weight in her last outing.  This time, she assures us, will be different.   

Check out what she had to say about the importance of this fight for women’s MMA, what she thinks of Carano’s popularity and her own relative obscurity, plus more in this interview.

Thanks for talking with me, Cris.  You got a lot of criticism for coming in over weight in your last fight.  How has the weight cut gone this time, and what are you weighing as of today?  [note: this interview took place on Monday, 8/10]

I’m 155 right now.  I’m on a very strict diet and I have very capable people around me making sure I’m doing the weight cut right.  It will be hard to cut the weight, as usual, but I will get it done.

You also took some criticism for the explanation that you gave as to why you missed weight last time.  How did you feel about that?

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