Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey has earned her title with her judo skill set coupled with her distinct trash-talking ways to hype the fight.
Rousey will yet again try and take women’s MMA further when she faces Sarah Kaufman on August 18th in what will be her second consecutive main card headlining fight. This time though, Rousey will be the champion looking to defend her title for the first time.
Since the beginning of the year Rousey’s fame has skyrocketed, and in addition to the two headlining fights she will also be featured in ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue” later this month. How does one understand her sudden rise to fame?
“Don’t let the looks fool you, because this girl is a dangerous fighter,” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told MMA Junkie. “She’s not just beautiful, but she’s actually funny, witty, sharp and always has a good comeback. Ronda is definitely a superstar in this sport.”
Rousey fought and talked her way past Kaufman to get a shot against Miesha Tate in March. Kaufman was originally thought to be the No. 1 contender, but things changed and now she gets to be Rousey’s first title challenger.
“I know Sarah has some bad feelings because she felt she should have gotten the fight with Miesha instead of Ronda,” Coker said. “But it all worked out. Sarah will have her opportunity to show why she feels the way she feels.”
Kaufman has hard hands and will look to do exactly what Coker said—show her feelings and use her hands to show why exactly she deserved to be the top contender over Rousey.
Of course, that means Kaufman will have to avoid getting submitted via armbar like the rest of Rousey’s opponents. Coker thinks Kaufman can do exactly that.
“Ronda is going to have her hands full,” Coker said. “Sarah is an amazing striker, has the ability to keep the fight standing up [and has] great takedown defense.”
Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman goes down on August 18th in San Diego and will air live on Showtime.
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