August 15th, 2009 will likely become a day in the history of mixed martial arts when women made a huge mark in a sport that was dominated by males. Many fans would say that the main event on Saturday night will transcend the gender roles that MMA has been dominated by since its birth. Other fans may simply say that Carano's popularity and beauty are the only true reasons why this event was headlined by herself and Santos, but regardless of what fans believe -- this will be the first major MMA event headlined by two women in the history of the sport.

The main event will feature EliteXC veteran and former American Gladiator Gina "Conviction" Carano (7-0) against Chute Box fighter and EliteXC/Strikeforce veteran Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (7-1) in a women's championship match-up. Carano's recent run of wins in EliteXC was the main driving force behind her hype regarding her actual skills in the cage. She rattled off wins over Julie Kedzie, Tonya Evinger, Kaitlin Young, and Kelly Kobold. She hasn't fought since October of 2007 as she was the American Gladiator known as "Crush" on NBC's rebirth of American Gladiators. Santos comes into this bout riding a seven-fight win streak following a loss via heel  hook in her first-ever foray into MMA. She has recently defeated Shayna Baszler, Yoko Takahashi, and Hitomi Akano under both EliteXC and Strikeforce.

Carano is the 27 year-old daughter of former NFL quarterback Glenn Carano. Glenn played as back-up QB to NFL legend Roger Staubach and later Danny White from 1977-1983. Athleticism obviously runs in the family as Gina led her Las Vegas high school basketball team to a state title along with playing volleyball and softball. Her former boyfriend, Kevin Ross, introduced her to muay Thai as he was a pro muay Thai fighter when they dated. The rest is history.

Carano racked up a 12-1-1 record in muay Thai and also appeared in Ring Girls, a film about herself and four female fighters taking on the best muay Thai fighters in the world. From that point, she made her first splash into MMA in the Las Vegas area. Her record continued to increase in the win column over the past 3 years, and her beauty and popularity have driven her to even more opportunities. She acted as a mentor on Oxygen's Fight Girls, and as previously mentioned, she was on American Gladiators. She was also ranked at #16 on the Maxim Hot 100 list, one of the fastest rising search trends on Yahoo! in '08, and appeared in the video game, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, as a character.

With her beauty and popularity stemming from various appearances in the media and on television, Carano has been deemed the "face of women's MMA" by many media outlets. Many fans would say she isn't the best woman fighter in the world, but she does have some attributes that can, at least, make the case that she could one day be a monster in the women's scene. She currently trains out of one of the best gyms in MMA in Xtreme Couture. She has shown solid takedown defense in some of her more recent battles, and her attrition is above average. She has fantastic striking ability, and that's her major strength in this battle.

Her opponent, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, is what many fans would describe as unstoppable or "scary". Santos is married to current Strikeforce fighter Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, and both train at the world-renowned Chute Box Academy in Curitiba, Brazil. Santos is primarily known for her aggression and power. Her style relies on fury to crush opponents in quick fashion by being physically more dominant in every facet of the fight. Fans can get an idea of her physical power from the open workouts that Strikeforce has held for both fighters. Santos actually lifts her husband easily into the air and takes him down with ferocious power in one foul swoop.

While Santos isn't the beauty that is Gina Carano in the face of the media, Santos does exhibit the abilities to become one of the most dominating women fighters in the world for a very long time. Her overall strength and power surpasses many of her opponents by light years.

There is one major issue that will have to be resolved before we actually see this bout in the cage. Both Carano and Santos have had problems making weight in the past, although this match-up will be set at a featherweight weight limit of 145 lbs. instead of the 140 lb. limit that both fighters have tried to make in the past. Recent video of Carano suggests that she will, in fact, make weight for this bout, but Santos is always a question due to her sheer power and muscle definition. She may be a little too bulky to make the limit, so it'll be interesting to see what happens at the weigh-ins.

Stylistically, this battle comes down to technique vs. power. A Mir vs. Lesnar match-up if you will except Carano won't be using brilliant jiu-jitsu sweeps to stop Cyborg. The true technique vs. power debate comes in the stand-up department. Carano has always thrown quick, straight, powerful blows in combinations while Cyborg usually throws huge overhand bombs that she loads up on heavily. Ideally, Carano should be able to easily avoid those power blows if she's paying attention to Cyborg's hands and movements. She can counter and land her straight shots through Cyborg's defense and punish her.

The major problem comes with Carano's ground defense against Cyborg's smothering power on the floor. If Cyborg manages to take down Carano, it's a whole different ballgame. Carano has a top-notch wrestling coach in Randy Couture, but the strength difference could be immense. Some of Cyborg's past opponents were able to stand back up due to Cyborg's poor technique in holding opponents down, but they ate a lot of punches in trying to stand to their feet.

Cyborg isn't the most technical fighter in the women's division, but her power is something to be reckoned with. Carano will need to be technically sound to defeat Cyborg, and she'll need to be ultra-defensive with her hands and takedown defense.  This could prove to be an absolute war between the two fighters, but the longer it goes on -- the better it becomes for Carano. Remember, this will be for a championship, and it will go five rounds.