The club was involved in a controversy during the mixed martial arts event Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz, the inaugural fight card for San Jose-based fight promoter Strikeforce under their new Showtime broadcast deal on April 11, 2009. Hitomi Akano, former Smackgirl 125-pound fighter, was to meet Chute Boxe fighter Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in the 145 pound weight division. During the initial weigh-ins Cyborg was unable to meet the cutoff, weighing in at 152 pounds. Cyborg reportedly weighed more according to some claims by AACC staff and trainers. Not wanting to risk her health and future against a significantly larger fighter, Akano initially refused to go through with the fight and the California State Athletic Commission wouldn't sanction the fight, giving the Brazilian until 8 pm to reach 149 pounds.[3] After further negotiation and reported concessions from Strikeforce owner and president Scott Coker (which are rumored encompass an increased presence of fight team members on the promotion's cards), she finally agreed to the match at a catchweight of 150 pound, the lightest weight Santos ultimately made.[4] Giving up close to 15 pounds to a vastly larger fighter, Akano lost the fight via TKO in the third round but gained the respect of Showtime commentators for taking the fight despite the disparity.
Team members, trainers, and administration rallied around Cyborg following the event. Fellow fighter, and one-time trainer, Megumi Fujii blasted Cyborg as well as the Chute Boxe Academy calling them "shameful" and accused Cyborg of cheating.[5] The team's wrestling coach Josh Barnett relayed similar sentiments on his MySpace blog, and manager Shu Hirata also displayed his disgust of the situation in his Sherdog Radio interview with Jordan Breen.[6] All three, however, praised Coker for his professionalism during the negotiations.[7]
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