Already a decorated combat sports athlete, Cris Cyborg can now say she is a victorious boxer.
For the first time in her career as a fighter, Cyborg laced up the gloves and stepped through the ropes to try her hand at boxing. Standing across the ring was Simone Silva, a professional boxer entering with a record of 17-21. Although she put up a solid effort, Cyborg proved to be too much to handle after eight rounds.
The bout served as the co-main event of Fight Music Show 2 which took place at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil, and aired on Fite TV.
The event began with five MMA bouts inside a cage for the first half of the card. During an intermission that featured a musical concert, the cage was converted into a boxing ring to host five boxing matches. According to MMA Fighting, the commission regulating the bout would not clarify if the bout would be considered a professional bout or exhibition.
The fight began in typical Cyborg fashion as she pressed forward, pawing out a jaw to set up her power punches. Silva circled on the outside early, but was not afraid to answer and landed a few solid punches.
After finding her range and getting comfortable with her opponent’s movement, Cyborg found more openings while avoiding the counter offerings.
Silva found herself against the ropes a number of times throughout the first five rounds. As Cyborg closed the distance and looked to unload punches, Silva covered up well and avoided major damage, although Cyborg’s left hand and overhand right were not wholly unavoidable.
In the sixth round, Silva pressed forward and controlled the center of the ring while Cyborg worked on the outside. However, Cyborg landed some solid punches in these moments.
Sensing she was down on the scorecards, Silva turned up the pressure even more in the seventh. As a result, some intense exchanges occurred. Although Silva landed her share, Cyborg continued to land the cleaner punches.
cris cyborg wins her pro boxing debut against simone silva via unanimous decision #FMS2 pic.twitter.com/52UZEtwr93
— jake (@jakeshreds420) September 26, 2022
In the final round, both fighters emptied the tank. Cyborg led the action with hard combinations as Silva attempted to evade and respond. The crowd appreciated the closing moments and the fighters embraced as the final bell sounded.
Cyborg was announced the winner of the contest via unanimous decision, recording a victory in her debut as a boxer.
Cyborg, the current Bellator women’s featherweight champion, last competed in MMA at Bellator 279 in Hawaii. That night, Cyborg defeated Arlene Blencowe for the second time, recording the fourth defense of her Bellator title.
Results of FMS 2 include:
Boxing
- Cris Cyborg def. Simone Silva via unanimous decision
- Dynho Alves def. Christian Figueiredo via knockout – Round 3 (exhibition)
- Felipe Arantes def. Milton Vieira via unanimous decision (exhibition)
- Chico Salgado def. Sergio Bertoluci via knockout – Round 4 (exhibition)
MMA
- Diego Dias def. John Allan via unanimous decision
- Luan Santiago def. William Macario via knockout (punches) – Round 1
- Willian Lima def. Jackson Loureiro via unanimous decision
- Edivan Santos def. Alison Vicente via knockout (punches) – Round 2
- Thor Silva def. Gabriel Bonfim via TKO (punches) – Round 1 (amateur)
