Cris 'Cyborg' Santos: The Female Fedor Has Arrived

Simply put, I don't see any scenario in which Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Champion Cris 'Cyborg' Santos will be beat...or even challenged.

Santos' latest dominant effort on Saturday against an overmatched Jan Finney was just another notch in her title belt, one that is going to expand a lot more than the two defenses she has thus far.

As if you needed a reminder of her dominance, here's a few fun facts:

- She has 11 career fights and her only defeat was in her debut—more than five years ago.

- She's won 80 percent of her fights by T/KO, including her last four. She isn't a complete Carwin-esque first-round killer, but watch her fights. She's consistently in control and simply batters (mauls? thrashes? maims?) opponents into oblivion.

- She turns 25 years old in a few weeks, meaning there are a lot more beatings ahead.

Fedor Emelianenko's spectacular run over the past decade brought plenty of praise and venom and so will Santos' run if she continues this pace of destruction.

It seemed quite fitting that on a night when Emelianenko lost his aura of invincibility, Santos was in prime killer form, almost as if she was taking the mantle of the world's most unbeatable fighter—male or female—from him.

But unlike the doubts that surrounded whether the Russian Sambo beast would hold up against the best competition, there's not another major organization out there that is holding aces against which Santos can't compete. If the top women contenders are out there and want to fight, Strikeforce can get them rather easily.

Therein lies the issue and what will ultimately hold back the true greatness Santos could achieve. We hoped that Gina Carano would be the one to show "Cyborg" that the women's division had another hard-hitting pair of fists, setting up a classic series between the two.

We saw that how turned out.

Carano has retreated to the safety and easier-earned money of Hollywood, leaving a throng of tongue-wagging fanboys unsure of whether she'll ever return. Shayna Baszler? No dice. Marloes Coenen?  No chance. There just isn't the competition out there to test Santos at this stage of women's MMA.

Could 33-year-old Erin Toughill be the next one in line to try to topple the queen? Possibly, but the widely-speculated next logical opponent hasn't competed in over a year. How about the 9-1-1 Hiroko Yamanaka? Possibly, but she's mainly a decision fighter—not exactly the type you'd favor against Santos.

This is all assuming these women want to fight Santos, which likely will become more of an issue if we get more beatdowns like Finney got Saturday. While the lure of competition may be enough for some, how many are standing in line to get that kind of pounding for still short money?

Unfortunately for Santos, she came along in an era that wasn't prepared for her. While the rest of women's MMA continues to evolve at similar paces, Santos made like Usain Bolt and sprinted so far ahead of the pack that it will be years before they catch up.

A special attraction? No doubt. Someone that will give you a competitive fight? Not a chance. "Cyborg" Santos is too good and will only get better if she has the right motivation.

That's a scary thought if you like the faces of female mixed martial artists around the globe.

Josh Nason is a freelance MMA journalist that has published Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. He is a contributor to FIGHT! Magazine, Apollo Magazine and Bleacher Report, appearing regularly on The Fight Show and Fight Network Radio. Follow him on Twitter.