It will be just over a year off when former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Sarah Kaufman sets foot back inside the Octagon at UFC 186 on April 25.
The number five ranked fighter has been out of action with an injury, but has been vying for fights with top opponents on Twitter for some time. She has pushed for both Miesha Tate and Jessica Eye heavily, so when she found out that the two of them were fighting, lets just say she wasn’t a happy camper.
Sarah Kaufman would love to punch Miesha Tate and Jessica Eye in the face for money
“I’m so frustrated by that fight. I’ve been pushing for Miesha Tate, I’ve been pushing for Jessica Eye and I’ve even been pushing for Bethe Correia, but none of those ladies want to take that fight with me,” Kaufman told MMASucka.com. “I don’t think you should be able to pick your fights, you’re a fighter in the UFC, you are among the top in the world, you’re ranked within the top 5 or 10 or whatever you are ranked, you should have to fight each and every female. So to be able to pick and choose, it just doesn’t seem fair. I don’t get to pick and choose, would I have chosen to fight Alexis for a third time? Absolutely not. It’s not a fight for my career that allows me to showcase a newer side, because people will be like, ‘oh, you beat her a third time, you’re supposed to beat her. Not a big deal, she just lost to Ronda, so meh who cares.’ But it’s a tough fight, Alexis is tough and that’s sort of the reason I was a little bit upset about getting the Alexis fight and I was really pushing for, not bigger and better, but bigger and better. Getting away from the attention side of things and getting hype behind it and I just don’t feel like there is a ton of hype behind this fight, but I have a personal motivation to do really well.
“Come April 25, I’d like to have a fast win, get right back in the cage, so if you need me for short notice against Miesha Tate or Jessica Eye I will be ready. I’d love to punch either of those girls in the face for money, so hopefully, not that one of them gets injured, but something happens and I’m able to step in. Apparently they’re next in line for a title, whoever wins, well I want that to be me, so get me in there.”
Being out of action for as long as she has gives her motivation to push through 2015 and make it a memorable year.
“Every fight is kind of like the same thing for me — ‘how relieved are you to have a fight, it’s been a long time.’ I get it, it has been a long time and I am looking forward to it,” said Kaufman. “I’m looking forward to 2015 to be a year that really has some momentum building and growing and really be able to get some of those big fights against people that I either haven’t fought in a long time or against brand new opponents and new challenges and work my way back up to that UFC women’s bantamweight championship belt.”
Instead of the two fighters that Kaufman had called out, she got a third fight with Alexis Davis. Early in the Victoria, B.C. fighter’s career she defeated Davis and then again in 2012 under the Strikeforce banner.
It’s definitely not the fight Kaufman wanted, nor does she think it will do much for the future of her career. She’s beaten Davis twice, so what good is a third time?
In her mind, a win will hopefully get her right back in the driver seat and push for those big fights that she really wants.
“It kind of seems like we were the two left without fights and it was the fight that they were like, ‘oh well we’ll put this fight together.’ She’s a tough opponent, so it’s not really the best for me, because there is a lot for me to lose. Coming off a year break, not by choice, but by injury and then fighting someone who is very tough — she’s very durable. She doesn’t have a style that makes you look good, so it’s hard to look pristine and amazing against her. Ronda [Rousey] did it, so I can do it. It’s not that you can’t, but she is a tough fight and UFC put this match together. Last time it was kind of a fight of the night, but we didn’t get a bonus for it, so hopefully this time, third times a charm and we get a big bonus and get a big finish to get my career reset and re-motivated for the public to be behind it and to push for those big fights — Miesha Tate, Cat Zingano, Ronda Rousey, even a rematch with Jessica Eye, there’s so many fights, Bethe Correia, that could be had and that would be great.”
The UFC 186 fight card took a bit of a bump when the main event between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao was nixed due to the champ injuring his rib. The Canadian fans were in uproar again, because it seems that they just can’t catch a break when it comes to the UFC coming to town.
With the change in main events and one fight off the card, Kaufman was surprised that her fight wasn’t moved up to main card status, or at least main event on the prelims.
“I thought that we would be bumped up. I was surprised that Alexis and I initially either weren’t in the main event of the prelims or on the pay-per-view portion. I think being number three and number five in a division that’s extremely popular and very talented and very tough that we should have been higher up on the card. Being on the TSN or the FOX Sports programming, there’s a ton of viewership that gets on those, so I’m sure that there will be great viewership for my fight and for the Patrick Cote fight with Joe Riggs. The overall card, I think has the potential to be pretty interesting and pretty entertaining, but there is a big hit for sure losing T.J. and Renan Barao. As a fan and as a fighter, I was looking forward to being able to watch that fight live. So selfishly I’m a little bit upset also.”
The obvious goal is to get to UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey and being ranked at number five in the world should put her very close — well maybe.
Rousey is set to fight Bethe Correia at UFC 190 in Brazil, in a fight that makes sense from a storyline perspective, but not from a rankings one. Correia has beaten Rousey’s stablemates — Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler — and still holds an undefeated record at 9-0, but she is ranked at number seven, so why should she get the shot before the other six?
“It’s a tough fight to really put together. The storyline of the fight, you get it, because the four-horsewomen (they’re not really the four horse-women anymore,) but at the time Bethe knocked two of them off and it made sense to have that rivalry. But at the same time, it’s been a long time. Bethe hasn’t fought since last August, so to come right off of not fighting and to fight for a title shot and not having beaten anyone in the UFC who’s ranked not even in the top-10, it’s a questionable title fight. Will people watch it? Yes. Does Bethe have a chance? I don’t think so.”
With just one fight in 2014, Kaufman would like to be extra active in 2015. Unfortunately for her, her 2015 fight calendar starts in April, so she will need to get in and out of the Octagon quick.
Kaufman has her sights set on the future and it is bright in her mind.
“I’d like to make up some ground, so if I could fight five times in 2015 that’d be great. Three would be acceptable. So UFC call me up whenever you need, because I’m sitting here waiting for fights.
