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Originally posted at http://www.fightergirls.com/news.asp?ID=574

“Cyborg” Santos Smashes Jan Finney – Defends Title

Monday, June 28, 2010 Article By Michael Hess In another devastating TKO victory, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defended her women’s championship title by crushing Jan “Cuddles” Finney on Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, which was broadcast on Showtime. The event, which was held at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, also known as the “Shark Tank” to NHL fans, saw a huge upset in the main event, but there were no surprises in the title fight, where Santos took out Finney in the second round. Jan Finney started the fight off with a bang as she landed a nice right hand punch on Cris Santos, but that only seemed to anger the champion, as Santos then went on a rampage, throwing punches in a wild exchange to start the bout. Finney, while in the clinch and being driven back into the cage, managed to land a solid right elbow to the jaw of Santos, who took the strike without any noticeable impact. Once the two women separated from the clinch, both landed left hand punches, but it was the “Cyborg” who then unloaded power shots from both hands, which dropped Finney to her knees. “Cuddles” Finney, who tried to go for a takedown, then ate a tremendous right knee from Santos on her way back up that landed squarely on her face, and dropped the challenger again. Eventually the two found their way back to the feet, and it was all Santos as she dropped Finney with more power punches. Once on the ground, Finney attempted to slow down Santos by grabbing her leg and possibly looking for a submission attempt. It was at this time where Santos landed several punches to the back of Finney’s head, as she was completely covering up and on all fours. Referee Kim Wilson warned Santos twice with “watch the back of the head,” and then a 3rd time before she stepped in and took a point away from Cris Santos. The deduction was warranted, as replays showed repeated illegal blows to the back of Finney’s head, although Jan appeared cognizant when talking to the referee and receiving a slight break during the timeout. After the restart, the rest of the round saw Santos knock Finney down again with more power shots, then she worked her ground and pound on Finney, who was defending and used upkicks to create some separation from the swarming Santos. The beginning of the second round resembled the first, as Jan landed an impressive right hand punch, but the more powerful Cris simply walked through the strike to land plenty of her own, forcing Finney down to the ground. Santos, who landed plenty of ground and pound strikes, had to have been smelling blood as referee Kim Wilson instructed Finney to “fight back” at least twice. Jan then grabbed a leg and attempted to go for a lock, but it was not to be as Cris stepped out of the hold. The two fighters were then stood up, where Santos landed more big punches, and finally a huge right knee to the ribs of Finney, which sent her crashing down to the mat in obvious pain. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos then finished off her challenger, Jan “Cuddles” Finney, with two minutes left in the second round with several shots to the head from her powerful right hand, and was awarded a second round TKO victory. While the upset in the main event made most of the headlines in the MMA world, “Cyborg” Santos continued to prove her dominance in the women’s division. Some may have questioned the stoppage by referee Kim Wilson, but none of those individuals are named Jan Finney, as she stayed down on the mat and did not argue one bit. The question now remains, is there anyone who can stand up to Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos?

First match of the day saw Portugal take on a team that no one felt should be there anyway, a team that has been embroiled in a defection scandal since early on in the tournament. As the Chollima trotted out to start this match, you could see the confidence that they had gained in their first match against Brazil. For long periods of time in the first period, the People’s Republic of North Korea attacked and worried and threatened. The Seleccao were lucky to not go down early when a spectacular shot from Jong Tae-Se skipped off the rain-slicked pitch to go just wide. And a bit later, Hong Yong-Jo forced a save out of Eduardo (the Portugese keeper) that only just missed being headed in on the re-bound. From there, however, it was all Seleccao all the time despite the ever-present attacking Chollima. At the break, Portugal had managed only a single goal lead (goal by Raul Meireles on 29′). Eight minutes after the re-start, however, saw the start of the decline of the Chollima defense & confidence. Over the next 36 minutes, the Seleccao scored six more times from five different players. Only Tiago scored twice in the match. North Korea never stopped trying to attack, but they simply were not up to the task. The routing, at 7 – 0 was so great that it will take a monumental effort to keep them out of the Round of Sixteen. The only thing I gleaned from this match is that the qualifying campaigns need to be shored up. No team that is reportedly one of the 32 best in the world should ever lost by seven goals. Appalling.
Final: Portugal 7 – 0 North Korea

Second match pitted an excellent Chilean side against the shock of the tournament Nati of Switzerland. La Roja went into this match knowing that 3 points here could very possibly assure them of entry to the last 16 while a loss takes their fate out of their hands completely. Since their next game is against Spain, they knew they had to put Switzerland on their back early on. However, breaking into that Swiss citadel is never easy as Spain found out when the Nati prevented the odds-on Spanish favorites from scoring at all. Valon Behrami, who plys his trade for West Ham in London, had other ideas and decided to get red-carded early on for some loose elbows. That was what La Roja needed to spur them on. And, despite some very valiant defending, the Nati were not equal to the measure of the Chilean attack. Mark Gonzalez scored for La Roja on 75 minutes. Now, with two wins out of two, Chile looks the side to beat and are favorites to go through.
Final: Chile 1 – 0 Switzerland

Third match had a recently shocked Spain versus a “who knows how they got there” Honduras. Both La Furia Roja and Los Catrachos lost 1 – nil in the opening round and desperately needed all three points to keep advancement hopes alive. But, it was Espanol who were obviously more intent on advancing and started the game in superb fashion with chance after chance. And by the 17th minute, David Villa and slaked his thirst with a mazy run and top corner slot to the net. It looked like Furia Roja had indeed found their fury. Spain continued to dominate play through the remainder of the first half, but no longer created the golden chances that were so easy for them in the first 20 minutes. The Honduran nerves must have settled a bit as they made only one change at half time bringing on Georgie Welcome in place of the largely anonymous Roger Espinoza. However, despite the change and the settled nerves, Los Catrachos have still yet to prove to me they deserve to be in the tournament. They haven’t proven it to David Villa either who netted again on the stroke of 50 minutes. Barely 5 minutes into the second half and the hapless Hondurans went down 2 – nil. Ten minutes later the Spaniards had opportunity to go up by three, and David Villa had opportunity for a hat-trick as Navas was fouled by Izaguirre in the penalty box. Villa, however, scuppered the shot and sent it well wide of the mark. It was nearly all Spain from that point on. Hondruas did scrape out a few chances due to the industry of Nunez, but nothing came of his excellent hard work. More’s the pity for him as he’s been the shine amidst the dull that is the Honduras squad. But he was the only sparkle in that squad as they were completely outclassed by Spain who won with the two strikes from David Villa. Now, Spain has but to win against Chile – by no means an easy task – to advance.
Final: Spain 2 – 0 Honduras

First game up on this tenth day of World Cup action is the Guaraníes (Paraguay) vs the Repre (Slovakia). The Repre wanted desperately, to rid the ghost of the unluck that draped over the last game as they wound with a draw deep into stoppage time. A win here would keep their chances of making it to the round of 16 alive. A loss would severely damage that hope. The Guaraníes, a far more established and experienced squad, also need a win to head to the Round of 16 after drawing against Italy in the first round of matches. Although they defended doggedly, the Azzurri broke through their stalwart defense in the end and set the game equal. Both teams are one 1 point. Both teams needed this win. It was the Guaraníes, however, who with their experience and greater appetite, who were the better team on the day. Enrique Daniel Vera was first up and slotted one home at 27′. Despite a growing sense of desperation and hunger, Slovaki – playing in the World Cup for the first time as an independent nation – could not break down their opponents and gave up another slice of the pie late in the game. Cristian Miguel Riveros managed a goal on 86 minutes to seal the win, and most likely, passage through to the Round of 16.
Final: Slovakia 0 – 2 Paraguay

The second match had the World Champions Azzurri against the woeful All Whites of New Zealand. Italy, desperate to regain their form that took them all the way to the cup-lifting ceremony 4 years ago; New Zealand eager to ride the coat-tails of lady luck one more time. And, somewhat surprisingly, Lady Luck showed early for the All Whites who eluded an offside call and stuffed the net with a shot by Shane Smeltz on 7 minutes. The Azzurri had it all to do. But, fickle as ever, Lady Luck switched sides and gifted the Azzurri with a soft penalty 22 minutes later. A penalty kick that Vincenzo Iaquinta easily converted to a 1 – 1 game. Italy made two changes at the half to add some attacking flair, but the All Whites sat deep, maintained their shape and time after time denied the Azzurri their go-ahead goal. At the final whistle, the score remained 1 – 1 leaving both teams with the option of advancing with a win.
Final: Italy 1 – 1 New Zealand

The third match today pitted A Seleção against Les Eléphants in a must-win for the Les Eléphants. Brazil won handily in the first round of Group G to sit comfortably on top. The Ivory Coast don’t wish to suffer the same fate as their Cameroonian counter-parts and be eliminated before the third match is even played so to that end, they started their talisman, their idol, Didier Drogba. But there’s only so much he could do and he proved to be no match for a Seleção and their brand of football. Luis Fabiano scored his first goal (25th minute) for the Brazilian national team in 6 matches and then doubled his tally on 50′. Elano added to the woes of les Eléphants in the 62nd minute, but had to leave the field soon after on a stretcher after damaging his shin in a reckless tackle. Didier Drogba did get get a consolation goal for the Ivory Coast with 10 minutes to go, but it was too little too late. The victory for Brazil makes them the 2nd team to secure qualification into the round of 16 and while it’s not over yet for les Eléphants, the outlook is pretty grim. The game was marred by late theatrics and drama that saw Kaka get sent off with a second yellow card.
Final: Brazil 3 – 1 Ivory Coast