Sarah Kaufman is the champ, not a Challenger

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB) | Embed

Sarah Kaufman is the Strikeforce women’s welterweight champion who will defend her title tonight against Roxanne Modafferi in Everett, Washington. Kaufman defeated Takayo Hashi via unanimous decision on February 26 of this year to win the vacant 135 lbs. title. Kaufman has compiled a perfect 11-0 record including 3 in the Strikeforce promotion.

 Sarah Kaufman’s fight tonight will be her first title defence and will serve as the co-main event for Strikeforce Challengers Series 9. Heavyweight prospect Shane Del Rosario (9-0) will face Lolohea Mahe (4-1) in the main event.  Kaufman spoke to Ringside Report Radio and was asked why her championship bout was not featured in the main event slot. “I’m not really sure, again, I’m just a fighter and I try to go out there and put on a good fight. I’d definitely like to be moved off the Challengers card as well, regardless of co-main or main event,” Kaufman said.  

Strikeforce women’s middleweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos has never competed on the Strikeforce Challenger series cards, which are generally considered to be secondary to the big Strikeforce shows. For example, Cyborg’s last fight, a one-sided beat-down of Jan Finney was featured on the main card of Fedor v. Werdum. Her fight before that was the co-main event of Strikeforce: Miami where Nick Diaz defended his Strikeforce welterweight title against Dream welterweight champ, Marius Zaromskis. Cyborg has been featured far more than the welterweight champion but Kaufman thinks this next fight should be her last on the Challenger series. “To have the title and be fighting on a Challengers card is definitely something that I want to move up and away from. The fight with Roxanne is definitely going to be that stepping stone for me.”

Sarah Kaufman won her Strikeforce title on a Challengers card and tonight will be the only champion to ever defend on a Challengers card. “I think that’s part of one of the issues is the worry that people feel you’re not mainstream enough to put you on a main card. But, the only way to get that mainstream, it’s just like Cyborg, is to get that opportunity to fight on a main card,” Kaufman said. “I don’t have any problem saying I don’t want to be on Challengers cards anymore. That’s definitely something that is a little bit strange but, if I get to fight at the end of the day, I get to fight and that’s really what’s important to me. “

The Strikeforce welterweight champ says she’s willing to challenge Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos for her middleweight crown but wants to make sure it’s done at the right time. “It’s something that definitely could happen in the future. I’m not looking in the immediate future in terms of a couple months but I think it would be an interesting fight,” Kaufman said. Despite her willingness to face Cyborg, Kaufman maintains that the fight needs to be properly promoted in order to generate the awareness a fight of this magnitude would deserve. “I think the fans would be really interested. But, I definitely think I have to be moved off the Challengers cards first. Get some of that notoriety, and a little bit more fan support. Then, I think it would be a fight that the fans would really want.”

As for her opponent tonight, Roxanne Modafferi, Kaufman knows she’s in for a tough fight. Modafferi is an American fighter who trains and lives in Japan. Modafferi is a solid grappler with a win over top contender Tara LaRosa in her last fight and a career victory over former number 1 middleweight contender, Marlos Coenen. “I know she likes to throw some crazy punches and has an unorthodox stand-up style which could be awkward to deal with. I think for the most part she’s going to try and take the fight to the ground. She likes to go for the triangle and the chokes and that kind of thing. So it’s just being aware of what’s happening and fighting a smart fight. “

Sarah Kaufman is a Canadian fighter who trains in Victoria, B.C. with Zuma MMA and her coach Adam Zugec. Kaufman has also enlisted the help of one of the greatest minds in the sport, Greg Jackson. “My coach, Adam Zugec, does the majority of my training, my game-planning, pretty much everything. Then, I’m lucky enough to be able to work with Greg (Jackson) as well, so we just bounce ideas off of him. Adam and Greg are actually very, very similar,” explained Kaufman. “He (Adam) will watch tapes, I’ll watch tapes and we’ll kind of come together and discuss what we think she’s likely to do and what will work for me. Then we’ll usually ask Greg the same thing…we usually all come back with pretty much very similar ideas.”

Sarah Kaufman will have the support of Greg Jackson and fellow fighter Julie Kedzie in attendance tonight. She will look to entertain the Everett, Washington crowd, retain her title and finally move off the Challengers series and onto the bigger Strikeforce events. “They have to trust that it’s going to be a good fight and I always try and do that.”

The entire interview with Sarah Kaufman is available on the July 16, 2010 episode of Ringside Report Radio.