Cris Cyborg to lead Chute Boxe rebirth in USA
Not only did Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Santos’s drubbing of Gina Carano at the last Strikeforce event bring heaps of attention…
Not only did Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Santos’s drubbing of Gina Carano at the last Strikeforce event bring heaps of attention to women’s MMA, but it also made Chute Boxe relevant again. Though the Brazilian fight camp used to be a fearsome presence in the PRIDE era, it fell out of favor as its biggest stars all left to start their own teams. Now, Cris Cyborg is one of the most compelling champions in the sport, and Chute Boxe founder Rudimar Fedrigo is rewarding her with her own school. As he told Portal das Lutas:
We talked a lot about it after the event and the Cyborg couple [Cristiane and Evangelista] will take the helm for Chute Boxe in the United States. In the coming days we should announce something about it, like where the gym will be…[Santos’s Strikeforce title] is the eighth world title the academy has achieved. So it didn’t just make it into the history of women’s MMA, but into that of the academy. I’m really happy, there was great motivation behind it, with everyone training with desire and joy, and now Cris will keep it up to hold onto her belt.”
Could we see a rebirth of Chute Boxe’s axe-murdering brawl-’til-you-fall style in the U.S.? And with Cris Cyborg as the face of the camp in America, will other female fighters be lured to Chute Boxe? No American MMA team is specifically known for producing great women fighters. It’ll be interesting to see if the Cyborgs recognize this opportunity and seize it.
