A Look into Kaufman vs. Carmouche

At the end of the month, two legends of the sport will collide at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson. Before we get there though, former Women’s Welterweight champion Sarah Kaufman (13-1) makes her way back to fight under the Strikeforce banner. In her return, she will face off against USMC veteran Liz “Girl-rilla” Carmouche (5-1).

The last time we saw Kaufman on Showtime, she lost her championship belt to Marloes Coenen (19-4) via third round submission (armbar). Before she stepped in the cage with Marloes, she had been undefeated, having faced the likes of Miesha Tate, Shayna Baszler, Takayo Hashi, and Roxanne Modafferi. Following her first loss, she then returned home to Victoria, British Columbia where she fought Megumi Yabushita at Armageddon Fighting Championship 5 and won via third round TKO. Strikeforce officials decided that her impressive victory was enough to earn her another shot in their cage.   Instead of giving her a “tune-up fight” and welcoming her back with an easy win, she was given the Girl-rilla and will be in for a tough battle.

Coincidentally, the last time we saw Liz Carmouche in the cage it was also against current champion, Marloes Coenen. Miesha Tate originally won the right to be the next in line for a title shot, but got hurt in training and had to withdraw and Carmouche jumped at the chance to fight for the title. She came out strong and had been dominating the fight before being submitted in the fourth round via triangle choke. She, too, had been undefeated before facing off with Marloes, having only gone to decision one time. Her five-fight win streak included a TKO victory over former Women’s Middleweight title contender Jan “Cuddles” Finney.

Between Kaufman’s boxing/wrestling background and Carmouche’s judo/kickboxing background, these two well-rounded fighters are sure to put on a great show for the fans. With a combined thirteen KO/TKO victories between the two, you can expect this fight to end at any moment and you’re going to kick yourself if you miss it.

These two interact a bit on twitter with their fans, as well as each other, so the two took a playful approach when asked if there was anything specific that they’d like to say regarding their bout:

“@mmasarah – just that I’m awesome and going to hit @iamgirlrilla lots :D”

“@iamgirlrilla – I’m going to hit @mmasarah a whole bunch… and add Team Hurricane Awesome as my team!”

“@iamgirlrilla – @mmasarah hey stop copying me! That’s it, we’re fighting”

There’s a respect between the two, but you can guarantee that as soon as the cage door locks it’s going to be all business. Make sure to follow them on Twitter and see how things go for them in the last couple weeks leading up to their fight on July 22 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Also, don’t forget to follow @MMAValor for all you fight news and updates.

Tags: Liz Carmouche, MMA, Sarah Kaufman, Strikeforce, Strikeforce: Fedor vs Henderson

Category: MMA, Strikeforce