The featured bout between Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Hitomi Akano is now back on the schedule for the Strikeforce show tonight.
The bout was re-instated after hours of negotiation between Strikeforce officials and Akano’s camp. It is believed that the 145lb Akano was asking for a substantial raise in pay to fight Santos, who will likely go into the cage weighing somewhere around 165lbs.
“I don’t really want to say what the deal is but I think that, let’s put it this way [her] gym will have a much better relationship with Strikeforce than just one fighter,” said Coker.
“All I can say is that Strikeforce and Mr. Coker offered her something very reasonable and we appreciate his effort as well,” said Hirata at the conclusion of negotiations at 2 a.m. PST. “Of course as a fighter she always wants to fight but she wanted to get the right conditions to make that happen, that’s all.”
“We felt that maybe fans and [the] public should know what really happened, and by her fighting it relayed more of a message to the public and also gives her credit for having the heart of a warrior, because she will step in even though it is a big disadvantage now,” stated Akano’s manager. “I asked Mr. Coker to do that and he promised it will be addressed on the broadcast and I think it’s important to tell the story behind it.”
Akano is likely in for a rough night. Santos is going to come off in an awful manner tonight, but that could end up working out perfectly in Strikeforce’s favor when they prepare to make the fight with Gina Carano. Fans like having someone to boo; Cyborg missing weight, coming into the cage much bigger than her opponent and then mauling her half to death like a bully would seemingly entrench her on the heel side of things, especially against the lovable Carano.
