Strikeforce
Ronda Rousey to defend Strikeforce Title against Sarah Kaufman this August
May 8, 2012 - 11:20:13 AM

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey will make her first title defense this summer, as MMAFighting.com reports that her bout with Sarah Kaufman will take place at an as of yet unannounced event in August.

No date or location for the event has been revealed, but it will mark two events in two months for Strikeforce, which is expected to head to Portland, Oregon, or Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 14. That event is expected to be headlined by a bout between Nate Marquardt and Tyron Woodley for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight Championship.

Rousey captured the title from Miesha Tate with a vicious first round armbar, and she's now finished all of her fights in the same manner. Kaufman, the former champion who lost the title to Marloes Coenen, who then lost it to Tate, was supposed to get a rematch with Tate for the title in her last bout. However, Rousey dropped to the bantamweight division and leapt ahead of her. Instead, she took on Alexis Davis and earned a majority decision in a fantastic bout.

Penick's Analysis: This is a great women's fight. It's not going to be as big for Strikeforce from a hype standpoint as Rousey vs. Tate was in March, but Rousey's star continues to rise and she may pull fans in single handedly for this event. Kaufman's a great fighter, but she's never been a draw for Strikeforce, and her last bout was on a preliminary card broadcast. This remains a great fight, and it will be when it happens in August, but the draw will be all Rousey this time around, and we'll see just what March's win did for Rousey in that department.