Cristiane Justino Venancio is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and the former Strikeforce
Women's Featherweight Champion and the current Invicta FC World Featherweight Champion.
Justino won the Strikeforce title on August 15, 2009, by defeating Gina Carano via first-round
TKO.
She lives in San Diego where she trains and teaches at The Arena.
Justino is currently the #2-ranked pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world by MMARising.com
and the #1-ranked 145-pound female fighter according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.
Early life Cristiane was a national-level team handball
player in Brazil before being discovered by Rudimar Fedrigo, a Chute Boxe Academy trainer.
Mixed martial arts career She made her anticipated United States MMA
debut on July 26, 2008 against Shayna Baszler at EliteXC: Unfinished Business.
She won the fight by TKO in the second round.
She faced Yoko Takahashi on October 4, 2008 at EliteXC: Heat.
She won the fight by unanimous decision.
Justino was scheduled to face Dutch submission specialist Marloes Coenen at XMMA 7 on February
27, 2009, but backed out of the fight after signing a new contract with Strikeforce.
Justino earned a BJJ Purple Belt under her jiu-jitsu instructor Cristiano Marcello in
2009.
Strikeforce She later signed to fight for Strikeforce,
which greatly increased the chance that a fight with Gina Carano would take place.
In her Strikeforce debut, Justino faced Hitomi Akano on April 11, 2009 at Strikeforce: Shamrock
vs. Diaz.
Justino came in six pounds overweight for the fight.
Akano originally rejected the fight due to Justino failing to make weight but later accepted
the fight.
Justino defeated Akano by TKO in the third round.
Before the fight with Carano, Justino was interviewed by mmaworldwide.com's reporter
Aaron Tru.
When asked how long it would take to submit Carano with a choke hold, Justino choked the
interviewer out cold, in a matter of seconds.
Justino fought Gina Carano on August 15, 2009 at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg for the
Women's Featherweight Championship.
Justino won via TKO at 4:59 of the 5:00 first round.
The card was the first time that a major promotion had featured a main event between women.
After the match, Justino hugged Carano, and stated in her interview that she had the utmost
respect for Carano, and that it was an honor to fight her.
Justino next defended her title against Dutch standout Marloes Coenen at a Strikeforce event
on January 30, 2010.
Justino won the fight via TKO at 3:40 of round 3.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated that the next challenger for Justino would most likely
be Erin Toughill.
However, Toughill later announced her intentions to leave Strikeforce and plans for the fight
with Justino were cancelled.
On April 7, 2010, Coker stated that Justino would fight again in June.
She faced Jan Finney at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum and won the fight via KO in the
second round.
Justino's contract with Strikeforce expired on June 26, 2011.
She renewed her Strikeforce contract on August 25, 2011.
Banned substance use On September 23, 2011, Strikeforce announced
that Justino would return to the promotion to face Hiroko Yamanaka.
The fight took place at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal on December 17, 2011.
Justino won via TKO just sixteen seconds into the first round; however, on January 6, 2012,
it was announced that Justino had tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.
As a result of the banned substance, the fight's result was changed to a no decision.
Justino had her license suspended for one year and was fined $2,500.
Invicta Fighting Championships On February 15, 2013, Justino signed a multi-fight
deal with Invicta Fighting Championships.
She was scheduled to make her debut on April 5 at Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson against
Ediane Gomes to determine who would move on to face Marloes Coenen.
However, Gomes suffered an injury and Justino instead faced Fiona Muxlow.
Justino was successful in her return, winning the bout via TKO in the first round.
Justino faced Marloes Coenen in a rematch for the inaugural Invicta FC Featherweight
Championship at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg on July 13, 2013.
She defeated Coenen by TKO in the fourth round to become the first Invicta FC featherweight
champion.
She returned to Muay Thai to face Jennifer Colomb at Lion Fight 11 in Las Vegas on September
20, 2013, defeating the previously undefeated Frenchwoman by TKO in round two.
She had initially been set to fight Martina Jindrova but Jindrova withdrew with injury.
She lost a five-round unanimous decision against Jorina Baars in a fight for the inaugural
Lion Fight Women's Welterweight Championship in the co-main event of Lion Fight 14 in Las
Vegas, Nevada, United States on March 28, 2014.
Baars officially knocked down Justino in the first round with a head kick and in the fifth
round with a spinning heel kick, although referee Tony Weeks missed at least two other
occasions throughout the fight where a knockdown could have been issued.
Justino hit the canvas from a front kick in one occasion and from a knee on another, both
times they were ruled slips by the referee.
Personal life Justino was married to MMA fighter Evangelista
Santos, but the couple split in December 2011.
Championships and accomplishments Mixed martial arts record
Kickboxing record Submission grappling record
See also
List of current mixed martial arts champions List of female mixed martial artists
References
External links Official Website
Cristiane Justino Awakening Profile Professional MMA record for Cristiane Justino
from Sherdog The Arena