Technically Speaking: Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Gina Carano

August 15th is a little under two months away, but there is already a hot buzz surrounding the women's MMA scene. Strikeforce has managed to line up potentially one of the most anticipated matchups of the year in Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Gina "Conviction" Carano. It'll also be the first women's MMA matchup to receive main event treatment under a major MMA promotion, and it will likely become a historical battle on the women's MMA front.

One of the growing issues that I've noticed popping up around the MMA blogosphere after the announcement has revolved around the technical aspects of Gina Carano's striking game vs. Cristiane Santos' aggression and power striking. The general consensus is that Gina's striking is much more crisp and calculated while Santos' striking resembles that of Wanderlei Silva's hayday in PRIDE. She throws powerful overhands, and she's able to work the Muay Thai clinch effectively to punish opponents.

Joshua Stein over at MMAOpinion.com gives a little insight as to his view that Cyborg is potentially being overlooked in this battle because of the view that she isn't as technical as Gina:

While I’ll almost inevitably discuss the difference in technical skills between Santos and Carano leading up to the fight, which is still two months away, it’s worth acknowledging that Santos is hardly any less technical than Carano. It’s not as though she steps into a brawling gameplan in her fights. She makes full use of the Eight Points of Contact thai philosophy and knows how to use range control and establish an effective clinch (and, more impressively, manipulate her opponent’s posture in the Thai plum, which is tough to do against top level opponents).

Still, the words of the old Public Enemy song apply. "Don’t believe the hype." Santos is hardly any less technical than Carano. Perhaps there’s something to be said for the patience displayed by Gina in many of her fights, but there’s also something to be said for the complete pursuit of ones opponent, and attempting to deliver punishment at all costs. Santos does have a tendency to flair the elbows once she’s delivering punishment, but it’s also true that she works a technical game until creating that opening. So, watch her fights and judge for yourself, but don’t accept, at face value, that Cyborg is a fighter who has built her career on athletic prowess and decisive size advantages, it’s not a clear cut, objective statement.

While his argument isn't wrong, I'm sitting in a different boat. I've watched a lot of Gina Carano's earlier fights within her MMA career and her Muay Thai career, and I'm confident in saying she's more technical than Santos in specific areas.

I think Carano has the edge in the striking department over Cyborg if we're talking about which fighter has a much more technical stand-up game. Carano throws solid, straight combinations with kicks. She doesn't tend to load up her hands, and relies more on quantity with speed and accuracy vs. powerful shots. In every single Cyborg fight, she loads her hands up tremendously for the kill, and her earlier fights are easily comparable a bar brawl. I wouldn't fault Cyborg for those fights however. Her powerful strikes were able to daze opponents, and she was simply moving in for the kill.

There are other arguments that could be made as well. Cyborg does come from a camp that is notorious for molding super aggressive beasts for MMA. Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua were both ultra-aggressive, and we can attribute much of their success in PRIDE to the fact that they overwhelmed opponents vs. technically picking them apart. Wanderlei showed glimmers of his technically sound Muay Thai attributes, and "Shogun" Rua has shown those same glimmers along with a formidable technical ground game. Santos is probably a technician in the Muay Thai clinch, but it's tough to say if she'll ever get to display those attributes against a game Gina Carano.

When asked the question whether Carano's technical stand-up can down the powerful Santos, I'd easily give a positive answer. The only problem is that technical aspects of someone's skill set aren't the deciding factor. I'm sure Wanderlei took on more technical strikers within his career, yet blasted through those opponents with ease. Patience is something that can be your worst nightmare in the cage with an animal like a Chute Box fighter, and Carano does exhibit that kind of patience. The difference here is that she can also be the aggressor.

In any case, I've come to the firm conclusion that Carano does, in fact, have the more technical striking acumen, but does that truly mean anything? Sure, it'll give Carano the edge standing... on paper. As we all know, paper doesn't hold much weight. Paper is the sole reason why I still have hope the Chicago Cubs won't blow a "guaranteed" playoff berth. Technically speaking, this should be a classic war that MMA fans should be looking forward to watching. I know I am.