June 26, 2010

Strikeforce: Cris Cyborg Mauls Jan Finney

Originally posted on MMAFighting.com

Everyone expected Cris Cyborg to destroy Jan Finney on Saturday night's Strikeforce card. Everyone was right, as Cyborg demolished Finney in a brutal mismatch, winning by second-round TKO.

Finney landed a nice right hand immediately at the start of the fight and clinched with Cyborg against the cage, but then Cyborg went to work, whaling on Finney with punches and a knee to the face. Cyborg was badly beating Finney and appeared close to finishing her on the ground, but Cyborg hit Finney on the back of the head, causing referee Kim Winslow to step in, take a point away from Cyborg, and give Finney time to recover.

As soon as Finney had recovered, Cyborg went back to town, hitting Finney over and over on the ground. Finney was game and tough and managed to survive a round, but it was a round that Cyborg dominated and won 9-8 on my scorecard, after the point deduction.

The second round was more of the same, with Cyborg smashing Finney but Finney refusing to quit. Eventually Cyborg drilled Finney with a knee to the rib cage, knocking Finney to the ground. That's what made Winslow finally stop the fight and hand Cyborg the TKO win.

The fight was every bit as one-sided as expected, and it raised the question of whether Strikeforce is going to be able to match Cyborg up with anyone who can challenge her. As much toughness as Finney displayed, this fight wasn't even competitive.

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