Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Brazilian Fighters

7. Cristiane Justino

“Cris Cyborg” is the first female representative on this list—but will not be the last—and adds a seventh-place finish here to her No. 3 spot on Sherdog's pound-for-pound list of the greatest women in MMA history. Justino was promoted as the greatest female fighter ever by the UFC for a while, and Bellator still does so to this day. Regardless of whether one agrees, her abilities have made her the terror of WMMA for the entirety of her career. She possesses underrated grappling skills, with solid wrestling and BJJ, while being exceptionally hard to take or keep down herself. However, her main skill is her phenomenal seek-and-destroy muay thai striking, which calls to mind the golden days of Chute Boxe, drawing comparisons to Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua. After losing her debut, she would go an amazing 20-0 over the next 13 years, a truly unprecedented winning streak at the elite levels of the sport—and every single one of those wins was a one-sided beating. That includes knockouts of Shayna Baszler, Gina Carano, Marloes Coenen twice, Tonya Evinger, Leslie Smith, Yana Kunitskaya, and a dominant decision over Holly Holm. It's a good list of names, and “Cyborg” always fought the absolute best opposition she could, but due to the lack of talent at 145 pounds, her opponents were often undersized as well as overmatched. Justino famously lost her UFC featherweight championship to Amanda Nunes in only 51 seconds. I don't look at that loss as negatively as some do. “Cyborg” was way too aggressive and paid the price, especially since Nunes in Round 1 is a force unlike anything else in WMMA history, Ronda Rousey included. It is certainly possible Justino could have won a rematch had fought less recklessly, especially considering that we have since seen Nunes fade and be defeated under pressure by Julianna Pena. “Cyborg” continued winning after her UFC title loss, delivering a one-sided beating to Felicia Spencer to finish out her contract before winning the Bellator women's featherweight crown with a nice knockout of another all-time great in Julia Budd and defending it four times, adding a second knockout of Leslie Smith and two wins over tough striker Arlene Blencowe, one a submission triumph, the first of her career. At 37 years old, I can't see “Cyborg” climbing this list but neither can I see her slipping for a good while.

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