Evangelista Cyborg Santos out of Strikeforce fight with Joey Villasenor on March 29

by James Iannotti on Mar 21, 2008 7:25 PM EDT

evangelista cyborg santos Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (16-11) has been scratched from the Strikeforce: 'Shamrock vs. Cung Le' show slated for March 29 in San Jose, Calif., at the HP Pavillion, according to MMAWeekly.com.

The Chute Box-trained fighter was scheduled to meet Joey Villasenor (24-6) in a middleweight fight, but is apparently having issues with his visa and won't make it to the states in time to be ready for the fight.

No replacement has been announced to take on Villasenor at this time.

Here's a snip from Strikeforce Vice President Mike Afromowitz:

"He has been having visa problems in Brazil. The delay in his arrival would jeopardize him getting licensed in time for the fight. There are a few guys that we are considering, but we're still looking to finalize a replacement."

This fight was one of five scheduled to be aired by Showtime. The main event between Frank Shamrock and Cung Le, the co main event Jake Shields and Drew Fickett, Gilbert Melendez and Gabe Lemley, and Nick Diaz vs. Jae Suk Lim are the other four.

It's unknown whether a replacement fighter will keep this fight strong enough to stay on the main card or if Strikeforce and EliteXC will have to promote one of the under card matches to the main stage.

Perhaps the Luke Stewart and Tiki Ghosn fight will be aired instead.

We'll let you know if and when a replacement is named and a decision on which fight will be aired is reached.

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Comments

Win or lose Cyborg is always in good fights. Bad news for sure. Never been to high on Villsenor. I think he gets more credit than he deserves because of the Jackson connection.

by SirMixALot on Mar 21, 2008 11:40 PM EDT reply actions

I would actually like to see Cyborg take part in the DREAM middleweight grand prix! win or loose, he usually brings it!

by john on Mar 22, 2008 10:20 AM EDT reply actions

CyBorg has a crowd-pleasing style to say the least. Oh well. It would have been a nice scrap.

by MMAmania on Mar 22, 2008 11:01 AM EDT reply actions

CyBorg has a crowd-pleasing style to say the least. Oh well. It would have been a nice scrap.

Hopefully he enters the DREAM middleweight grand prix. There is a chance of that happening, since DREAM website stated that they have added a ChuteBox fighter to their roster and since many top dawgs at chutebox no longer train there, cyborg would be as good a guess as any!

by john on Mar 23, 2008 11:31 AM EDT reply actions