10. Shayna Baszler EliteXC “Unfinished Business” July 26, 2008 | Stockton, California
In Cyborg’s first major opportunity on the big stage with EliteXC , she had to finish the fight twice in a one-sided beatdown of Baszler at Stockton Arena. Justino was utterly dominant against a woman who would go on to become best friends with Justino’s cold-war rival, Ronda Rousey . Cyborg walked away prematurely after administering a beating, then had to return to work to close the show 2:48 into the second round. The event aired on CBS and marked the first of many times she delivered.
The word dominant often accompanies the description of many Cyborg victories, but her rout of Tweet at the Shrine Auditorium can best be described as brutal and quick. Justino closed the show in efficient fashion, scoring her first official sub-minute stoppage while successfully defending the Invicta featherweight championship. It was over in 46 seconds.
Some four months after she obliterated Tweet, Cyborg did the same to McMah—this time in 45 seconds. Justin made only five appearances in Invicta, but needless to say, she made quite an impression. A knee to the body and follow-up punches did in McMah at The Cosmopolitan in what was Cyborg’s next-to-last outing with the all-female company.
7. Jan Finney Strikeforce “Fedor vs. Werdum” June 26, 2010 | San Jose, California
The commentary team referred to Cyborg as a “machine” on more than one occasion as she dismantled Finney at the HP Pavilion. After punishing Finney for more than five minutes, Justino brought their encounter to a close with a vicious volley of knees to the body in the second round. Cyborg was in complete control for the duration, authoring one of the more memorable performances of her career. She did what she wanted when she wanted.
It was quite an Ultimate Fighting Championship arrival for Justino. After years of public doubts and negativity from UFC President Dana White , Cyborg put it all to rest when she joined MMA’s premier organization in 2016. She made her Octagon debut on home soil and needed less than two minutes—81 seconds, to be exact—to put away the notoriously durable Smith at Arena da Baixada, where she was embraced by 45,000-plus fans.
5. Tonya Evinger UFC 214 July 29, 2017 | Anaheim, California
A little over a year after she touched down in the UFC, Cyborg found herself fighting for the vacant women’s featherweight championship. In her way stood Evinger. The Washington native willingly accepted the challenge to face MMA’s boogeywoman, and while it did not result in an early stoppage for Justino, the Brazilian put on a fantastic technical display and took care of Evinger with knee strikes 1:56 into the third round of their battle at the Honda Center.
4. Julia Budd Bellator 238 Jan. 25, 2020 | Inglewood, California
A recurring theme with Cyborg involves her ability to make strong first impressions with promotions. Just as she did in EliteXC, Strikeforce, Invicta and the UFC, Justino dazzled in her Bellator MMA debut at The Forum. There, she took on a well-respected veteran in Budd, who had just two losses in her career to that point and entered the cage on an 11-fight winning streak. Cyborg once again got the job done and cut down the Canadian with fourth-round punches to claim the Bellator women’s featherweight championship.
During her tenure with Bellator, Justino faced arguably the toughest competition of her career on a consistent basis. Kavanagh stepped into the spotlight with four knockouts of her own, but it quickly became apparent she was no match for Cyborg. A brutal right hand from the Brazilian unraveled Kavanagh a mere 92 seconds into their clash at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. It was Justino’s third successful title defense in Bellator.
With the vast majority of her wins having come by way of knockout, the lone submission victory on Justino’s ledger warrants special attention. Cyborg and Blencowe have fought twice in Bellator, through their first confrontation served as the Brazilian’s first women’s featherweight title defense with the organization. Cyborg dispatched the Jackson-Wink MMA -trained Aussie with a rear-naked choke 2:36 seconds into the second round at the Mohegan Sun Arena. It was the first time anyone had finished Blencowe in more than five years.
1. Cat Zingano Bellator 300 Oct. 7, 2023 | San Diego
A historic Bellator event resulted in another memorable knockout for Cyborg. Zingano saw herself as the most difficult challenge to date for the Brazilian. Those beliefs rang hollow. Justino swept aside the former two-division Ring of Fire champion with punches 4:01 into the first round of their co-main event at Pechanga Arena. Cyborg has not competed in mixed martial arts since, as the PFL acquired Bellator roughly six weeks later and positioned itself as the UFC’s chief rival.
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