Cyborg: When Rousey Is Ready to Come After Me, I Am Ready

---

Strikeforce women’s 145-pound champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos continued her reign of dominance on Saturday night, retaining her title with a 16-second stoppage of challenger Hiroko Yamanaka at Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal.”

The Brazilian spent nearly 18 months on the shelf prior to her demolition of Yamanaka at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, Calif. Widely regarded as the planet’s premier female fighter, Santos engaged in lengthy contract negotiations with the Zuffa-owned promotion before inking a new deal this summer.

Despite her time on the sideline, Santos, 26, showed no signs of ring rust in her hexagon return, blitzing her overmatched foe with a barrage of straights and hooks which twice floored Yamanaka.

“I train hard,” Santos told Showtime Sports following her victory. “It’s a big responsibility to defend my belt, but I am aware all the time. I try to win fast.”

Though Santos had not fought since wrecking Jan Finney in June 2010, the champion made the most of her time away from the cage.

“I’m very happy. I’ve been training hard for one year and a half,” said the champion. “I [wasn’t] fighting [in Strikeforce], but I [was] fighting in the gym every day. Thank you, God, for helping me through the training and giving me motivation.”

Though there had been much talk of Strikeforce consolidating its female weight classes and moving forward with only a 135-pound category, UFC President Dana White announced earlier this week that the promotion will keep both divisions, in large part due to the popularity of the 145-pound champion.

Since joining Strikeforce in 2009, Santos has decimated all challengers placed in front of her, finishing the likes of Gina Carano, Marloes Coenen and Hitomi Akano along the way. Standing in the on-deck circle appears to be unbeaten Ronda Rousey, an Olympic judo bronze medalist with a penchant for hyperextending elbows.

Though it is currently unclear whether the rumored contest will come to fruition in the coming year, Santos did not mince words when asked about Rousey as a potential opponent.

“I don’t like to talk too much. I like training. When she is ready to come after me, I am ready.”