Women’s mixed martial arts phenom and Strikeforce middleweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (10-1) may return to action in late 2010 or early 2011.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker broke the news during a Friday media call and said the company would make a more detailed announcement about Cyborg in the next couple of weeks.

Cyborg won the most anticipated fight in women’s MMA history in 2009 by defeating Gina Carano via first-round TKO. So far this year, Cyborg has record a TKO win over Marloes Coenen and a knockout over Jan Finney.

Other upcoming title bouts

During the conference call, Coker would not confirm whether the winner of the Josh Thomson and Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante fight on Oct. 9 would be in line for a shot at current lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez, adding that it depends on possible match-up opportunities for Melendez in DREAM.

“It definitely will have title implications,” Coker said of the fight. “When that happens, [I’m] not sure.”

With Sarah Kaufman set to defend her 135-pound title on that same card against Coenen, Coker also did not respond to whether 135-pound tournament winner Miesha Tate would sit out for the rest of the year to wait for her title shot or have a fight in the interim. An answer on that could also come in the next week or so, Coker said.

2 thoughts on “Strikeforce champ “Cyborg” Santos to return in late 2010 or early 2011”
  1. At her age she should be fighting more than once every 6 months Or so.

    They have to start finding more fights for her regardless if it’s for the title or not.

    I’d rather she fought non-title fights than to not fight at all.

    Frankly with her appealing style and domination she’s showed in fights she’s very marketable.

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