Saturday’s Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title bout doesn’t carry the same bad blood as the last one in March, but that doesn’t mean the two fighters aren’t ready to bring it.
Current champion Ronda Rousey and former title-holder Sarah Kaufman of Victoria, B.C., were more than happy to share their thoughts of confidence Friday after weighing in for the show in San Diego.
Asked if Rousey, a Beijing 2008 Olympic judo bronze medallist who is 5-0 in MMA with all wins via first-round armbar submission, will be prepared for her striking, Kaufman didn’t mince here words.
“Not at all,” said Kaufman, who is trying to recapture the belt she held for nearly eight months in 2010. “She’ll be ready to come out and fight, I know that, but her striking’s still not up to my par, just as my judo is not up to her par. It’s going to be really a great fight for the fans. I look forward to bringing that belt back to Canada.”
She was also confident in both fighters’ abilities to deliver a quality performance in another showcase fight for women’s MMA.
“We’re probably going to be the most entreating fight on that card,” she added.
Rousey, who defends her newly acquired 135-pound belt for the first time after defeating Miesha Tate in March on the last Strikeforce card headlined by a women’s bout, was quick to correct her challenger.
“She said we’re ‘probably’ going to be the best fight on the card. We’re definitely going to be the best fight on the card,” Rousey said. “Both (of us) have a lot to prove here. This is the second time women have headlined an event this year and we’re going to make this a regular thing. It’s going to be for a reason and we’re both going to bring it. I’m excited.”
She also didn’t feel like she has to prove anything about her striking, which she has been working on while training regularly with the UFC’s Diaz brothers at Cesar Gracie’s gym.
“I’m ready to strike with everybody,” Rousey added. “I don’t really need to prove myself in fighting in any specific way. I’m going to win in the first way that opens up.”
Coming in for Friday’s weigh-ins, the easy-going Kaufman was smiling basically the entire time before and after weighing in at 134 pounds. Meanwhile Rousey was her typical stone-faced self, save for one big smile just before stepping off scale, which registered on the 135-pound number, and then again as she was brought out for the one-on-one interview before her cheering fans, the number of which seems to be ever-growing.
There were no tense moments during their staredown, which was followed by a respectful handshake. This was in stark contrast to Rousey’s showdown in March with then-champion Miesha Tate, who initiated some forehead contact and was quickly shoved back, forcefully, by the brash MMA newbie.
It’s hard to call Rousey a newbie nowadays, even with just five fights under her belt, because her war with Tate was one of the more action-packed one-round contests seen this year. But it eventually ended in the same manner as all of her previous MMA victories — by devastating armbar, this time at 4:27 of the first round.
The 25-year-old Rousey has still yet to see a second round, while Kaufman (15-1) has gone the distance many times, including in her last two wins.
But Rousey has continued to employ hyperbolic trash-talk in her pre-fight arsenal, even if it isn’t with the same level of ill will as she had with Tate, who had been vocal about her feelings that Rousey didn’t deserve the title shot that early in her career.
Kaufman, 26, was asked if she would use some of Rousey’s comments, such as her saying she was going to rip her arm off and throw it at her, as motivation.
“I think it’s awesome, it’s hilarious, and if that’s her need for motivation to fight me, I hope she uses it, because I’ll use the same thing to motivate me to fight back,” Kaufman said.
They don’t hate each other, but clearly both are mightily motivated, which should make for another anticipated women’s fight.
NOTES: Rousey is the first female fighter to headline back-to-back Strikeforce cards having a women’s fight as the main event, and it’s the first time there have been two such cards in one calendar year. This is also the first Strikeforce show to feature three women’s fights. On Saturday’s undercard, Tate faces Julie Kedzie, while Hiroko Yamanaka takes on Germaine de Randamie.
Here are the full weigh-in results:
Main card (Super Channel 10 p.m. ET)
Ronda Rousey (135) vs. Sarah Kaufman (134)
Derek Brunson (186) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (186)
Roger Bowling (170) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (169.5)
Lumumba Sayers (185) vs. Anthony Smith (186)
T.J. Cook (203) vs. Ovince St. Preux (205.5)
Preliminary card
Julie Kedzie (135) vs. Miesha Tate (136)
Adlan Amagov (186) vs. Keith Berry (186)
Germaine de Randamie (144) vs. Hiroko Yamanaka (145)
Bobby Green (155) vs. Matt Ricehouse (155)
