A shocking bit of sports news made headlines over the past several days, and I'm not talking about Tiger Woods getting chased down at a major golf tournament or Usain Bolt lowering his 100-meter world record by a mind-bending margin.

The fact that Cristiane Santos and Gina Carano carried a major mixed martial arts card as an explosive main event on Saturday was a major coup for female fighters and Strikeforce. The two stars went through five minutes of hell that packed the stunning power of Woods' loss and the head-shaking excitement of Bolt's win.

But to those who want to launch into speculation of a bright future for the women's game, just hold it.

In the future, it's much more likely that Tiger will seal the deal and Bolt, a young Jamaican, will improve his times more incredibly before women's MMA reproduces this kind of buzz with one bout.

"Cyborg" Santos and Carano garnered outstanding numbers for Showtime (2.9 rating; 856,000 viewers) in proving they are, head and shoulders, the top two names in their realm. But those who populate the ranks just below - or even on par - have nowhere near the notoriety or attractiveness of the two female figureheads.

As much enjoyment as the Santos-Carano fisticuffs provided - and we should go ahead and put it up for fight of the year, even if it only lasted 4 minutes, 59 seconds - it smacked of an aberration.

It's hard to see women's MMA ever producing a deep roster of contenders capable of regularly raking in dough for promoters.

Simply put, not enough women will enter this violent profession and even if they did, there's no example of a female sport that has thrived financially or made permanent in-roads to the public's attention.

The LPGA has been around since 1950, but has always operated on the outskirts of consciousness. Likewise for the WNBA, which was founded in 1996 and includes wonderful athletes - but it's still just, yawn, women playing basketball.

Women's professional soccer, meanwhile, never had a chance, no matter how talented and cute Mia Hamm was.

Tennis is a little different in that it has certified female superstars like the Williams sisters. But unless it's a Grand Slam event, those two seem more interested in their fashion lines than the drab competition.

Regardless, none of those sports draw frequent, widespread interest. And none of the female participants are maimed in the process of their endeavor. That's a helluva burden to overcome. And that's why I wouldn't bank on a gigantic surge in women's MMA in the wake of Saturday's Strikeforce feature.

We like our little girls to be dainty, not dangerous. That's where Carano got us - she's both.

But no matter what kind of stardom the dishy Carano has attained in such a short time, women's MMA will continue to take a rather large back seat to men of the cage. That's not to say Santos' and Carano's stars will now fade.

I've written before that I think Carano has the stuff to become the most identifiable female athlete on the planet. She's that appealing and, well, her rivals across the sporting stage aren't exactly overwhelming. Unless she begins getting destroyed on a regular basis - and there's no reason to believe that will happen anytime soon despite her TKO loss to Santos - she'll maintain her commercial appeal simply because male fans salivate at the mention of her name.

As for "Cyborg", she's won fight fans...