Cris Cyborg is a former UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta FC World Featherweight Champion.
59 Facts About Cris Cyborg
2.
Cris Cyborg is the only MMA fighter in history, male or female, to become a Grand Slam Champion, holding world championships across four major mixed martial arts promotions.
3.
Cris Cyborg first rose to prominence when she won the Strikeforce title on August 15,2009, by defeating Gina Carano via first-round technical knock-out.
4.
Cris Cyborg saw me training handball and asked me if I liked fighting.
5.
Justino, without yet incorporating the nickname "Cris Cyborg", made her professional debut in mixed martial arts at the age of 19 on May 17,2005 at Showfight 2 against multiple time world BJJ champion Erica Paes.
6.
Cris Cyborg lost the fight via submission in the first round, which remained her only professional loss in MMA until 2018, when she lost for the second time in her career against Amanda Nunes.
7.
Cris Cyborg made her anticipated United States MMA debut on July 26,2008, against Shayna Baszler at EliteXC: Unfinished Business.
8.
Cris Cyborg won the fight by TKO in the second round.
9.
Cris Cyborg faced Yoko Takahashi on October 4,2008, at EliteXC: Heat, winning the fight by unanimous decision.
10.
Cris Cyborg was scheduled to face Dutch submission specialist Marloes Coenen at XMMA 7 on February 27,2009, but backed out of the fight after signing a new contract with Strikeforce.
11.
Cris Cyborg later signed to fight for Strikeforce, which greatly increased the chance that a fight with Gina Carano would take place.
12.
Akano originally rejected the fight due to Cris Cyborg failing to make weight but later accepted the fight.
13.
Cris Cyborg defeated Akano by TKO in the third round.
14.
Cris Cyborg fought Gina Carano on August 15,2009, at Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg for the Women's Featherweight Championship.
15.
Cris Cyborg won via TKO at 4:59 of the 5:00 first round.
16.
Cris Cyborg next defended her title against Dutch standout Marloes Coenen at a Strikeforce event on January 30,2010.
17.
Cris Cyborg won the fight via TKO at 3:40 of round 3.
18.
Cris Cyborg renewed her Strikeforce contract on August 25,2011.
19.
On September 23,2011, Cris Cyborg announced that she would return to the promotion to face Hiroko Yamanaka.
20.
Cris Cyborg won via TKO just sixteen seconds into the first round; however, on January 6,2012, it was announced that Cyborg had tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.
21.
Cris Cyborg had her license suspended for one year and was fined $2,500.
22.
On February 15,2013, a month after Strikeforce folded, Cris Cyborg signed a multi-fight deal with Invicta Fighting Championships.
23.
However, Gomes suffered an injury and Cris Cyborg instead faced Fiona Muxlow.
24.
Cris Cyborg was successful in her return, winning the bout via TKO in the first round.
25.
Cris Cyborg faced Marloes Coenen in a rematch for the inaugural Invicta FC Featherweight Championship at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs Cris Cyborg on July 13,2013.
26.
Cris Cyborg defeated Coenen by TKO in the fourth round to become the first Invicta FC featherweight champion.
27.
Cris Cyborg returned to Muay Thai to face Jennifer Colomb at Lion Fight 11 in Las Vegas on September 20,2013, defeating the previously undefeated Frenchwoman by TKO in round three.
28.
Cris Cyborg initially been set to fight Martina Jindrova but Jindrova withdrew with injury.
29.
Cris Cyborg lost a five-round unanimous decision against Jorina Baars in a fight for the inaugural Lion Fight Women's Welterweight Championship in the co-main event of Lion Fight 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on March 28,2014.
30.
Cris Cyborg hit the canvas from a front kick in one occasion and from a knee on another, both times they were ruled slips by the referee.
31.
In February 2015, Cris Cyborg returned to MMA to defend her Invicta Featherweight title against Charmaine Tweet in the main event at Invicta FC 11.
32.
Cris Cyborg successfully defended her title, winning the fight via TKO in just under a minute in the first round.
33.
Cris Cyborg faced Faith Van Duin on July 9,2015, at Invicta FC 13: Cris Cyborg vs Van Duin.
34.
Cris Cyborg won the fight by TKO in the first round due to a knee to the body and punches.
35.
In March 2015, it was announced that Cris Cyborg had signed with the UFC.
36.
Cris Cyborg made her promotional debut at UFC 198 against Leslie Smith at a catchweight of 140 pounds.
37.
Cris Cyborg won the fight by TKO in the first round.
38.
Cris Cyborg faced promotional newcomer Lina Lansberg in a catchweight bout on September 24,2016, at UFC Fight Night 95.
39.
In March 2017 Cris Cyborg vacated her Invicta featherweight title and called out Germaine de Randamie for the belt targeting UFC 214 in Anaheim, California.
40.
The match fell apart since Germaine de Randamie refused to fight, stating that Cris Cyborg was a proven drug cheater and she was willing to get stripped of the belt for not fighting Cris Cyborg.
41.
De Randamie was stripped of her belt on June 19,2017, by UFC and Cris Cyborg was expected to face Megan Anderson to fight for the vacated UFC Women's Featherweight Championship at UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim, California.
42.
Cris Cyborg won by TKO in the third round to claim her first UFC championship.
43.
Cris Cyborg faced former Invicta bantamweight champion, Yana Kunitskaya, on March 3,2018, at UFC 222 for her second featherweight title defense.
44.
Cris Cyborg faced the reigning UFC Women's bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes, for the UFC Women's Featherweight Championship on December 29,2018, at UFC 232.
45.
Cris Cyborg faced Felicia Spencer on July 27,2019 at UFC 240 in the co-main event.
46.
On September 3,2019, it was announced Cris Cyborg had signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA.
47.
Cris Cyborg faced Julia Budd for the Bellator Women's Featherweight Championship on Saturday, January 25,2020 in Inglewood, California Bellator 238.
48.
Cris Cyborg won the fight via technical knockout in round four.
49.
Cris Cyborg won the bout via second round submission, earning the first submission of her MMA career.
50.
Cris Cyborg made her second defense of the title against Leslie Smith on May 21,2021 in the main event at Bellator 259.
51.
Cris Cyborg won the bout via TKO after knocking Smith down and finished her with punches late in the last round.
52.
Cris Cyborg defended her title against Sinead Kavanagh on November 12,2021 at Bellator 271.
53.
Cris Cyborg defended her title in a rematch against Arlene Blencowe on April 23,2022 at Bellator 279.
54.
Cris Cyborg retained the title and won the bout via unanimous decision.
55.
Cris Cyborg made her professional boxing debut on September 25,2022, facing Simone Silva, a former Brazilian National Boxing Champion, at Fight Music Show 2.
56.
Cris Cyborg was married to fellow mixed martial artist Evangelista "Cris Cyborg" Santos, and "adopted" his nickname.
57.
Cris Cyborg has been a naturalized US citizen since 2016.
58.
Cris Cyborg announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend, trainer, and former MMA athlete Ray Elbe in 2017.
59.
In 2018, Cris Cyborg legally adopted her teenage niece, making her historically the first mother to hold a UFC championship belt.