Brazilian MMA legend Cris Cyborg (birth name: Cristiane Justino) fought in her second boxing match against a fellow boxing novice, American fighter Kelsey Wickstrum who, like Cyborg, fought in just two matches prior to facing her opponent. The two fighters main evented in a fight card promoted by Matt McGovern’s WCF (World Fighting Championships) at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in California on Friday, January 19th.
Competing in her second professional boxing bout, Cris Cyborg (2-0, 1 KO’s) carried a wealth of experience over American fighter Kelsey Wickstrum (2-1, 1 KO’s) due to her experience fighting in MMA. Cyborg is currently signed to Bellator MMA where she currently reigns as the women’s featherweight champion. Her last match for Bellator occurred in October of 2023. The two fighters fought in a match officially held at 154 lbs (per boxing standards, lightweight in MMA).
Cyborg, 38, therefore made short work of the 36-year old Wickstrum by knocking the American out cold in just the first round, taking roughly over one minute and a half to strike gold. The first and ultimate round of their 6-round/2-minute match did not see a lot of action in the first minute as the two fighters gauged their range and each other’s ability without fiercely engaging with each other.
However, after roughly 80 seconds of what could be considered light sparring rather than actual fighting, Cyborg landed a deadly right hand from the orthodox position that dropped Wickstrum immediately and clearly knocked her out cold and resulted in Cyborg being declared the winner by knockout.
The first-round victory was marked Cyborg’s second win as a boxing professional and her first win by knockout. Despite the overwhelming and easy victory, it remains to be seen whether Cyborg will attempt to challenge any of the top fighters at super welterweight given she is still contracted to Bellator.
While her win over Wickstrum was a sound victory, Cyborg would need to face a steady set of increasingly better opponents to not only land a chance against any of the top 154-pounders, but also steam herself ready for such a potential fight given she has barely fought five rounds against low-tier opoposition throughout her short boxing career.
Cyborg is best known for her stint in the UFC where she notably made a name as the women’s UFC featherweight champion before she eventually suffered a KO loss to Amanda Nunes in 2018. Cyborg also held titles at previous MMA promotions before she participated in the UFC, and she is known as one of the best female fighters in recent-known history of combat sports, as well as one of the best Brazilian fighters to have graced the scene.
