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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Sarah Kaufman's expected title defense against Marloes Coenen has a date, as MMAJunkie.com reports that the Strikeforce Women's 135 lb. Championship bout is expected to take place at an as-of-yet unannounced event on October 9.
In addition to that women's bout, a middleweight clash between Luke Rockhold and Matt Lindland appears to be headed to the event as well. Though it's not set as of yet, the event is expected to take place from Strikeforce's home base at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
Kaufman defended her Title in July, knocking our Roxanne Modafferi with a vicious slam in the third round of their bout at Strikeforce: Challengers 9. Kaufman is undefeated at 12-0, and this will mark her debut on one of the "major" Showtime events, as opposed to the Challengers series, which she has appeared on in her last four fights. She was vocal about her desire to be treated equal to the other champions in the organization before her bout last month with Modafferi.
Coenen enters this fight coming off a loss to Strikeforce Women's 145 lb. Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos at Strikeforce: Miami in January. Dropping down a weight class, Coenen jumps ahead of Meisha Tate, who defeated two women at Strikeforce: Challengers 10 last week in a one night only tournament. Tate will face the winner of this bout at a later date.
Rockhold and Lindland come into their meeting at very different stages of their career. Rockhold is the highly exciting prospect at 7-1, never having left the first round of a fight. He's won six straight since suffering his only loss in November of 2007, with all six of those fights taking place under the Strikeforce banner.
Lindland, meanwhile, is a longtime veteran of the sport who picked up his first victory in two years this May when he defeated Kevin Casey at Strikeforce: Challengers 8. Lindland, a 13 year veteran of the sport, had lost three of four fights heading into the May event, though the losses came at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko, Vitor Belfort and tonight's Strikeforce Middleweight Championship contender Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.
Strikeforce has talked about starting a middleweight tournament with this October event, though there's not yet any word as to whether this fight will be a part of that field.
Also expected on the card is Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz, though no opponent is set. He's also been rumored for the middleweight tournament, so his appearance could be as part of that or he could be defending his Welterweight Championship.
Penick's Analysis: Kaufman's getting her promotion up to the main cards for this fight, which is a good thing, and she should have an entertaining fight with Coenen. Hopefully the winner doesn't come up injured, as Tate will be ready to face whichever fighter leaves the Champion. As for Rockhold-Lindland, that's a great match up. Rockhold has been bowling through people, looking more and more impressive each time out, but he's never faced a fighter with the experience of Lindland before. It should be a very solid fight, and if it's part of their "tournament" in the division it's a very difficult first round match for both fighters.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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