Strikeforce female middleweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is now confirmed to fight on June 26 and defend her title against a yet-to-be-named opponent. The fight will take place in San Jose, California, on the card to be main evented by Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum.
Strikeforce officials made the announcement late Thursday night. Santos will compete on the evening’s Showtime-broadcast main card.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker views the event to be a historic one in the world of mixed martial arts.
“You’ll be able to come to San Jose or watch Showtime, and you’ll be seeing the No. 1 male and the No.1 female fighter in the world fighting on the same night.”
Santos won her belt last August when she defeated Gina Carano for the vacant Strikeforce title. Santos went on to defend her belt against Marloes Coenen in January. She has a career record of 9-1.
Coker hasn’t found an opponent for Santos yet, but he expects to name one very shortly.
“We’re still working on the details, but it will be somebody tough,” Coker said. “We’re looking at a couple of girls from Europe. We’re going to put somebody in there who will once again test her.”
