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AXS TV will broadcast the Lion fight Muay Thai event tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET with a kickboxing card that features former #1 pound-for-pound female fighter and current Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg as well as Bellator's Brazilian kickboxing standout Cosmo Alexandre.
Cyborg will now meet the undefeated Jennifer Colomb after being initially aligned with kickboxing champion Martina Jandrova. Other key match ups include Cosmo Alexandre vs. Nampon and Kevin Ross vs. Tetsuya Yamato.
The following are excerpts from Lion Fight's press release on Cyborg's addition to the card, followed by chunks of Cyborg's recent interview with Kenny Rice of AXS TV.
Scott Kent, CEO of Lion Fight Promotions said, "As one of the best female fighters in the world, we are thrilled that Cris Cyborg is going to fight full rules Muay Thai and take on World Champion Martina Jindrova on September 20. Both of these fighters are fierce, aggressive strikers who like to end fights. With Cosmo Alexandre vs. Nampon and Kevin Ross vs. Tetsuya Yamato already set for Lion Fight 11, Cyborg vs. Jindrova now fully stacks this card."
Fighting out of San Diego, California, Cris Cyborg Justino is one of the top-ranked female mixed martial artists in the world. With a pro MMA record of 12-1-0-1, she is the former Strikeforce Featherweight Champion and current Invicta FC Featherweight Champion. She has fought in numerous Muay Thai competitions in her native Brazil and is considered one of the most dangerous strikers in the world.
"This is a great fight for me at Lion Fight 11, I fought Muay Thai in Brazil and I love competing in this sport," said Cyborg. "I'm really excited for this fight. I love to fight. I can't wait to go to Vegas and get in that ring on September 20."
Kent and Lion Fight matchmaker Christine Toledo worked with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, Cyborg's manager, to secure this fight. Ortiz expressed confidence and enthusiasm in her return to the Muay Thai ring.
"We are excited about the baddest woman on the earth fighting Muay Thai at Lion Fight 11 live on AXS TV in Las Vegas," said Cyborg's manager Tito Ortiz, former UFC Champion. "Cris is not only the best, but the most exciting fighter to watch and I'm sure September 20 will be full of excitement."
Excerpt from AXS TV interview with Cyborg by Kenny Rice:
There is no other female fighter who throws a punch better than MMA legend in the making, Cris Cyborg. She currently holds the Invicta featherweight belt and plans, to "defend the title in November if all goes well."
In a matter of days Cyborg, in keeping with her need for activity, will fight in the U.S. for the first time in Muay Thai competition at Lion Fight 11 (September 20 on AXS TV). It will be her second ever as pro, her only one to date was a first round knockout win on October 21, 2006 in her native country. Cyborg fights kickboxing champ Martina Jindrova.
Having hurried in from traffic and a scorching upper 90′s day in Huntington Beach, Cyborg offers a disarming smile while noting the temperature inside the Punishment Training Center is not a place to cool down. As we sit down for an interview that will air on Inside MMA, even with a few drops of perspiration on her forehead, she is relaxed and happy. With personal and professional problems in her past, this is where she wants to be, in a gym getting ready for another fight and above all, in a position to call her own shots.
This return to Muay Thai is a perfect fit. "I can fight MMA then do this and stay active, I can go between the two without breaking up my workouts," she explains. The preparation isn't that different, no concentration on the ground game of course for this fight, but for a superb striker who has 10 of 12 MMA victories via knockouts, the stand up game always has fueled her competitive fire.
"I don't look at tapes of her (Jindrova) too much, my trainer does. I want to react to what is happening once I get in there. It is that way with all my fights, not just this time."
No matter who she fights, Cyborg is the attention grabber, just like the little kid who caught the focus of passersby on the handball courts. There is the one fight, specifically the one fighter that is the equal of Cyborg in the headliner department, UFC champion Ronda Rousey. Words have been batted about from a distance but that is as close as it has come to being serious.
Cyborg who insists Rousey meet her at a catch weight of 140 pounds, is calm and collected when she says, "I am not worried about a belt, I just want to fight the best, always have done that. At 140 we can fight and I think it will happen. Now though I have to focus on Lion Fight and then Invicta. It keeps me busy."
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