Eye of the Tigress

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Eye of the Tigress

Gina Carano lost her Strikeforce title fight to Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos not due to a lack of technique, will, or even Cyborg’s power (although that certainly contributed to it); she lost due to exhaustion. Gina was still in the fight up to the three minute mark - and with two takedowns and some crisp jabs she might have even pulled off the round. The final onslaught that led to the referee stoppage with two seconds left in the first round was initiated by Gina collapsing to the mat rather than a takedown, evidence of her extreme fatigue.

The reality is that both women were clearly running on fumes after the three-minute mark. They were both still game and showed a lot of heart but they were clearly gassed and their technique became sloppier and sloppier.

In an interview with ESPN Magazine published a couple of weeks before Gina’s bout with Cyborg, Gina acknowledged that the new five-minute rounds would be a problem:

“Our rounds went from three minutes to five. A lot of women have jiu-jitsu backgrounds, and they felt short rounds were an advantage for strikers; they felt they didn’t have time to counter and work their submissions. I liked the old length. It’s hard to get in shape for a 25-minute fight!”

True, Gina changed her tune by the time of the fight, suggesting in a post-weigh in interview that the additional time would be in her advantage. But I think the fight itself proved that the extended length was a problem.

In the same ESPN Magazine interview, Gina noted some unique issues that female fighters have to deal with:

“I try not to schedule fights the week I’ll be on my period. Making weight is hard enough, and during our period we may retain around seven pounds of water weight. Plus bruises hurt more, you’re bloated and cramping, and emotionally, it’s tougher to battle through the training. Also, some states require us to wear breast padding, since we’re allowed to punch there. One time I didn’t have any; a guy told me to put a rolled-up towel in my bra. I said no. I usually just wear three sports bras during a fight.”

I have a lot of respect for female MMA fighters - as a category, they are scrappy and put on a good show. But perhaps their bodies aren’t suited for five minute rounds. No doubt there are some women who can handle it anyway - but are there enough of them who can handle that sort of punishment repeatedly year after year to build a deep enough roster to make women’s MMA a viable prospect for any promotion?