The long-awaited UFC debut of women’s MMA superstar Cris Cyborg at UFC 198 was a quick and successful one, as she needed just 81 seconds to stop Leslie Smith in their 140-pound catchweight bout at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil.
From the time referee Eduardo Herdy waved the two fighters together and Cyborg landed a flush right hand, it was clear that it was going to be her night. The Curitiba native patiently looked for the finish with her thudding punches and kicks, and eventually she caught and dropped Smith. Smith tried to weather the attack, but after a series of unanswered blows, Herdy intervened, with the official time coming at the 1:21 mark.
With the win, Cyborg, the Invicta FC featherweight champion, moves to 16-1 with 1 NC; Pleasant Hill, California’s Smith falls to 8-7-1.