Jorina Baars On Muay Thai Win Over “Cyborg”: She’s An MMA Fighter, This Is My Style

When undefeated kickboxer Jorina Baars won a unanimous decision over Invicta FC featherweight Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (watch highlights here) in a Muay Thai bout for the welterweight title at last night’s (March 28, 2014) Lion Fight 14, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

After all, “Cyborg” had looked unstoppable in her only two Muay Thai fights, and many thought her thunderous MMA power would translate into a spotless run in kickboxing, as well.

But Baars was far from a member of that group. Despite a rather pedestrian 1-3 record in MMA over the past few years, Baars brought an impressive 35-0-3 kickboxing record into her bout with “Cyborg.” She felt back at home in her original sport, telling MMAFighting.com that she’s simply unstoppable in Muay Thai:

“I’m a Muay Thai fighter. She’s an MMA fighter. I will beat her. That’s every opponent, I will beat them. It’s my sport. It’s my style.

I’m never intimidated of an opponent. The gameplan was to put Cris in my range and stick with the knees, and when she comes in, put a knee up or a kick push attempt in her face. It worked.”

And it was an effective gameplan, as Baars rocked Justino with a stiff front kick to the face in the first round, and did it once more with a head kick. She also dropped “Cyborg” with a big knee, and even though the feared MMA champion fought back in later rounds, she couldn’t take over on the judges’ scorecards.

For her part, Justino had high praise for Baars, noting that it was an accomplishment in and of itself just to fight the respected champion, whose well of opponents had dried up in recent times:

“I’m so happy because I gave her five rounds with her, a champion of Muay Thai. No girl wants to fight her. She hasn’t fought in three years. She’s had eight belts and 38 fights, zero (losses). She’s never lost. I have two fights in Muay Thai.

She had a good gameplan against me. She’s tall. It’s hard to punch her in the face…. The first round I said, okay, I can lose this fight. But I fought hard, I was ready for a war.”

That’s a great attitude from “Cyborg,” who has recently been in the news for her proposed move down to 135 pounds in order to face UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey for the belt. Justino looked a bit smaller in her fight with Baars last night, perhaps signifying a true attempt to make bantamweight.

But with a loss, even in a Muay Thai fight, it may be harder to negotiate with the UFC brass. Still, a Rousey vs. “Cyborg” bout is probably one of the biggest fights that the starved-for-draws UFC can book in this strange time.

It’s going to take some time to make that happen, however, but overall, “Cyborg” shouldn’t lose too much standing by losing to an undefeated Muay Thai champion. What did you think of the fight, and where does Justino go from here?

Photo: Maro Belamonte