Cristiane Justino (Cris Cyborg) is the most unstoppable force known to women's MMA. With a record of 20 - 1 - (1 NC) and seventeen of those wins coming by way of (T)KO it's difficult to see where the holes in her game are, but they do exist. In Cyborg's last few bouts there has been one safe zone and that is the clinch. If Amanda Nunes' team can recognize this chip in Cyborg's armor they may have a clear path to victory. Cris Cyborg is now at the center stage of the biggest fight platform in the world; it makes sense that teams would be analyzing her fighting style in hopes of finding and exploiting a weakness, yet so far none of her opponents have been successful.

Cyborg is the undisputed queen of the Women's Featherweight division. With so many wins in dominant fashion with thunderous KO's and physically imposing ground game, few contenders are excited and willing to step into the cage with her. The first two matches in the UFC were typical one-sided beat downs in Cris Cyborg fashion at catch weight bouts of 140 lb. Cyborg's weakness in the clinch was exposed after the Women's Featherweight Division was officially established and Cyborg had her chance to hold a UFC belt.

The clinch seems to be the only aspect of Cyborg's game that she is not able to dominate her opponents. In the inaugural Women's Featherweight Championship bout, Tonya Evinger was able to survive until the third round against Cris and had success in the fight utilizing the clinch to take her down and put Cris on her back. Holly Holm was also able to exploit this weakness by holding Cyborg up against the cage and control her for most of the five round affair, but Holm lacked the ability to do enough damage to take her down. The most surprising and solidifying example is when an obviously out matched and late replacement, Yana Kunitskaya, was able to grab ahold of Cyborg and take the fight to the ground where Kunitskaya expected she would have the most success before ultimately being battered on the feet by Cyborg. These last three opponents had a common strategy in their small successes against the champ and it all stemmed from the clinch game.

All sources indicate that Amanda Nunes will be the next challenger to Cris Cyborg's throne and it would not be crazy to expect Nunes to build on the strategy of the previous fighers and attempt to take advantage of the clinch. Nunes is the most intriguing matchup by far in terms of being able to match power on her feet, technique on the ground, and experience in the ring in her own respective weight class. If Nunes' team is watching tape very closely they should pick up on the difficulties that Cyborg has engaging the clinch. The biggest factor will be if Amanda can keep up the grueling pace of clinching up by working in strikes and takedowns.

Without a doubt Cris Cyborg is the most dominant fighter to ever compete in any women's 145 lb. division. Since her pro debut, Cris has gone unbeaten and looks to have it all in her repertoire and represent a well rounded fighting style that outclasses all types of opponents. The recent success against Cyborg in her last three bouts all stemmed from the clinch. Now that Amanda Nunes looks to challenge Justiano in the near future Nunes has the best chance to win if she implements a heavy clinch strategy into her game. The Nunes and Cyborg fight will represent one of the highest level of Women's Mixed Martial Arts fights and will be exhibited as the premiere competition within the sport; how long will Cyborg's domination last and is the clinch a realistic weakness to exploit in Cyborg's game?

- J. Miramontez





