Den förredetta Strikeforce-mästaren Sarah Kaufman (17-2-0-1) skulle väldigt gärna utmana Ronda Rousey (11-0) om bantamviktstiteln igen, men Kaufman har även sikte på en returmatch mot en annan fighter, men först måste hon ta sig förbi Alexis Davis (16-6) på UFC 186.
Även vid vinst över Davis på UFC 186 så tror inte Kaufman att hon kommer att få utmana Rousey om titeln.
“I do think the likelihood is that they’re trying to find people who haven’t yet challenged Ronda, so they’re trying to build up these fighters,” berättade Kaufman för MMAjunkie.
Rousey besegrade Kaufman via armbar i Strikeforce. Det var Rouseys sista match i Strikeforce innan hon fick kontrakt med UFC.
Både Bethe Correia (9-0) och Jessica Eye (11-2) har argumenterat för att få nästa titelchans.
“Bethe and Jessica Eye, I think I beat both of them,” Kaufman fortsatte ”of course, I think I should get that title shot. But I also understand you want those exciting fights, you want the buildup, you want the hype, and I want to have those fights.”
“Seeing how things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bethe and Jessica fighting and the winner of that gets a title shot. I don’t necessarily think it’s deserving; they should be fighting ranked (No.) 1, rank 2, rank 3 to get a title shot.”
Kaufman möter Davis den 25 april i Montreal, men det var inte den matchen som Kaufman bad om att få. Kaufman ville ha en rematch mot Miesha Tate (16-5), då båda möttes i Strikeforce där Kaufman gick hem med segern.
Tate har vunnit tre matcher i rad och kommer senast ifrån en vinst över Sara McMann (8-2). Tate bröt sitt okben under matchen och har angett det som största orsaken till varför hon inte kan möta Kaufman, men Kaufman köper inte det.
“I knew Miesha having been off from injury, it might be a little while, but Miesha got online and said, ‘Hey Bethe Correia, let’s take this fight, let’s make this fight happen,’” sa Kaufman. “And to me, it’s like, ‘no, you’ve been talking trash at me, saying let’s fight. I get online, I want to make it happen, and she backs away. So to me, that’s a kind of cowardly move.”
“I’m ready; I’ve been sitting and waiting and trying to get any fight I can. Clearly, I’m not going to push to get Alexis, because we’ve already fought twice, and I don’t really think it’s a fight that does a lot for my career. It’s exciting for the fans, and maybe we get a $50,000 bonus out of it.”
“But at the end of the day, Alexis is a really tough fight, and Miesha is an easier fight, so it’s a bigger fight and an easier fight. Why wouldn’t I take those two things? And it was really fun to smash a lot of cupcakes.”
En dag efter att Kaufman fick sin match bokad mot Davis så släppte Tate en bild på sin CT-scan på sitt brutna okben.
“She didn’t actually come back with the (CT scan) until after my fight with Alexis was announced,” sa Kaufman. “It was crickets for a week-and-a-half, and then as soon as my fight was announced, then she comes out of the woodwork to say my eye is broken. She should have done that before. It would have hyped the fight, but she doesn’t want the fight. It’s that simple. She does stuff after the fight to make sure she doesn’t have to take the fight.”
Om Kaufman vinner över Davis så vill hon möta Tate.
“I want that fight,” sa Kaufman. “April 26, after I beat Alexis, I want to have the contract to fight Miesha Tate that day.”
