Does Rhonda Rousey Add Sarah Kaufman's Arm To Her Mantle ?

[Rich Davie]

On August 18, 2012 the "Strikeforce : Rousey vs. Kaufman" event will take place at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California, and will air on Showtime & Showtime Extreme.

The main card will air on Showtime, and the prelims will be on Showtime Extreme.

I'm one of those rare MMA fans that has actually been enjoying women's MMA for years now, and even though we all are well aware that the overall talent pool of women MMA fighters is some what shallow in North America to say the least, I still enjoy watching the women ply their MMA skills in the cage.

I never really understood that argument about women's MMA... you know, basically women's MMA isn't worth wasting time to watch because there aren't enough skilled women's mixed martial artists to make things interesting.

I think women's MMA has been very interesting in North America for at least nearly 6 years now... since the pre-Zuffa Strikeforce organization started airing women's MMA bouts in hundreds of millions of homes, and the lovely Gina Joy Carano became the face of women's MMA.

We've seen quite a few talented women in MMA since Gina was the impetus that finally got MMA fans to even start considering the possibility of women fighting in professional MMA... and there always seems to be a new top talent emerging from right around the corner.

We'll never really know how things would have turned out in the realm of women's MMA if "Cyborg" was exposed earlier on with her "fighter's little helper aide" that provided that extra edge that some fighters feel that they need to be the best and win.

After dethroning Miesha Tate with that brutal 1st round armbar that nearly took off Tate's arm at the elbow four months ago, Rhona Rousey is currently the new face of women's MMA... and she doesn't need PEDs to whoop your ass !

I'm obviously a fan of Rhonda Rousey, not only because of her skill as a mixed martial artist that could probably whoop my ass too, but also because she has clearly injected some much needed interest into an aspect of the MMA world that should be recognized and celebrated as much as men's MMA... she even has Dana White excited about women's MMA, and we haven't really seen DFW all that interested in women's MMA since the Cyborg vs. Carano bout that changed the complexion of women's MMA.

This should be an interesting match-up, and the question is going to be...

Can Sarah Kaufman who won a three round unanimous decision to Miesha Tate back in 2009 just a little over 3 years ago have a shot at coming out on top in this match-up ?

Even though I'm a fan of Kaufman as well, and she's clearly the more experienced MMA fighter... I'm gonna say no.

This one is probably going to end up in the same fashion as Rousey's 5 professional and 3 amateur bouts, since in a recent interview Kaufman seems to have written-off Rousey's proven ability to latch onto her opponent's arm once things hit the ground and end the fight via armbar.

What's really impressive, is that 7 out of 8 of Rousey's armbar submissions are within the first 60 seconds of round 1.

My prediction... Rhonda Rousey wins by armbar in round 1 or 2.

Rich Davie
MMA Crypt Admin
MMA Crypt .com

[BluenoseGreig]

Good article Rich! Women's MMA is not shown in the UK at all, so it's hard to have any opinion other than the bits and pieces I see on the net. But the one thing that seems to have sparked more interest in Womens MMA is....Ronda Rousey, and yes I agree that she wins by armbar, but I'm saying round 1 yet again!

[Rich Davie]

Thanks Bro... Rousey is a force to be reckoned with for sure !

[JCota]

yes......Kaufman is in serious danger here.

[Mu_Shin]

Tried to rep you on that one Rich...

The one aspect that distinguishes Sarah Kaufman and sets her apart from the majority of her competitors is a preponderance of Knockout victories on her extensive record. Punching power in women's MMA is a true rarity, and this lady has demonstrated she has it. I know I've seen a couple of her fights, can't honestly say I recall which ones, but I think Kaufman represents the evolution of the women's game in a very positive way. I know she lost by submission to Marloes Coenen, but she does have a brown belt in ju jitsu, which they do not give away without supreme effort, highlighting a well rounded skill set along with her striking prowess.

That said, I don't think we've seen a female athlete in MMA who has shown the high level athleticism and the world class grappling ability that Ronda Rousey brings to the cage. While her experience is not vast (in MMA), what we have seen has been pretty overwhelming. In my mind, she is akin to Brock Lesnar, in that I'm sure there are fans out there who question a fighter getting a title shot at the stage Ronda occupies in her career, but the simple fact is she absorbed a bit of punishment before she absolutely dominated the champion, and took the belt for her own. Having seen all of Ronda's fights that I could find on line, amateur and pro, it looks to me like she has clearly established herself as a singular champion who has not even come close to her ultimate potential in this sport.

I know it's cliche, but I believe Kaufman has a puncher's chance in this contest, but unless she catches Rousey coming in with the perfect sweet shot, I think Ronda adds the ninth arm to her growing collection...

[Rich Davie]

Thanks man.

[Sugarpooper]

Good to see my fellow crypters be into Rousey before all the UFC hype

[BluenoseGreig]

It really is a thing of beauty how easily Ronda transitions to the armbar every time.......

[BigDawg_04]

It really is a thing of beauty how easily Ronda transitions to the armbar every time.......

She is one of the best MMA fighters, male or female, out there that utilizes her Judo trips & throws, to get the takedown & like you said Blue, wicked transitions into the armbar!!!