*Spoilers* Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman - Aug 18, 2012

**NeilG** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 8:45am

Originally Posted by Devil

If the fight goes anything like the Tate fight, Kaufman will have plenty of opportunities to repeatedly punch Rousey in the face, even if she earns some frequent flyer miles in the process.

Won't matter, it's been shown repeatedly in the past that Kaufman doesn't have KO power. Very few women do, which is why Ronda's game has been holding up and will hold up until they somehow get her into the ring with Cyborg. But with Cyborg refusing to come down and Ronda (quite rightly and smartly IMO) refusing to come up, that may not happen.

Ronda's camp is claiming her chin is rock solid, actually I understand (haven't seen it myself) there's video of her taking a pretty good shot to the chin from Lucia Rijker and not being bothered. Rijker is currently helping train her striking.

Ronda by some sort of submission 1st round. I'm betting she might go for a different sub, even she must be getting bored of the juji by now. You know she's got a barrel of newaza up her ass, despite all the "one-trick pony" critiques.

**Devil** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 10:00am

Originally Posted by NeilG

Won't matter, it's been shown repeatedly in the past that Kaufman doesn't have KO power.

Huh? 60% of Kaufman's victories as a pro have been KO or TKO due to punches.

**NeilG** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 11:34am

Originally Posted by Devil

Huh? 60% of Kaufman's victories as a pro have been KO or TKO due to punches.

Whoops, that's what you get when you gloss together your info from other people's posts. Ignore me being stupid there.

**Bneterasedmynam** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 12:19pm

I already have Kaufman's post fight press photo:

**Shawarma** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 1:17pm

I understand Devil's concerns. However, grapple happens. And when grapple does happen, Kaufman will likely tap out in short order. I've far more confidence in Rousey's ability to take down Kaufman than Kaufman's ability to knock her out before that happens.

Women's MMA is interesting, really - without meaning any disrespect to women who could smash me one-handed, women's MMA is much younger and less well developed than men's MMA and the talent pool is a lot shallower, meaning you can get away with being simply very good at one aspect of fighting rather than all of them, as is usually the case in the high level male divisions. It's like the men's divisions ten years in the past.

**Zerstörer90** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 1:48pm

Originally Posted by Devil

Huh? 60% of Kaufman's victories as a pro have been KO or TKO due to punches.

Lol 1 has been by KO by punch (first pro fight), one by KO by slam (which was awesome), and the rest were TKO's (which she's only had one of since coming into the deeper talent pool of Strikeforce). She has been grinding out decision after decision since stepping up (other than the slam KO, which was awesome), and her only loss has been to *gasp* armbar

On the other hand, Rousey has finished all 3 of her opponents in Strikeforce in a total of just over six minutes. Whatever "holes" you thought you saw in Ronda's game, she has openly admitted are part of her "style", which she claims is to be more risk-taking and aggressive in order to be more exciting as a fighter and to finish fights (seems to be working too). She willingly gave up her back to tate multiple times, and pulled some flippy crazy **** that Tate did use to get back to the feet. If you remember, that fight ended with a Tsurikomi Goshi (correct me if i'm wrong about the throw, also i would like to iterate this was from standing) into a Juji-Gatame... It was not because Tate made "obvious mistakes in her gameplan". Give the Olympian some credit, it was because she was miles better on the ground and she was comfortable enough on the feet with Tate to let her get up. She did throw her 3 fuckin times in 1 round.

Also as Joe Rogan repeats incessantly whenever Josh Koshcheck is fighting "A fighter that is high level in one discipline can become high level in another".

I think it's a long shot possibility that Kaufman lands that "one shot", whereas I see Rousey having a very likely possibility of putting Kaufman on her back, mounting her, raining punches, and finishing her the same way she did Tate.

**Vince Tortelli** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 1:49pm

While everyone disagreeing with Devil is correct that "Grapple does happen" I would like to point out that sometimes "Strike" happens as well.
(Evidence: Marquardt vs. Maia.)

What I would like to see is Rousey going up against someone with a masterly submission game, like Megami Fumi (I know Mega Meg herself is a bit undersized to take on Ronda, what I mean is someone with comparative ground skills but bigger). Can't argue with Ronda's success but as far as I can tell, "Good groundwork for a judoka" is about the same as "good takedowns for a...jiu jitsuka?/Bjjer?/dirty buttflopper."

**Devil** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 2:05pm

Originally Posted by Shawarma

I understand Devil's concerns. However, grapple happens. And when grapple does happen, Kaufman will likely tap out in short order. I've far more confidence in Rousey's ability to take down Kaufman than Kaufman's ability to knock her out before that happens.

Women's MMA is interesting, really - without meaning any disrespect to women who could smash me one-handed, women's MMA is much younger and less well developed than men's MMA and the talent pool is a lot shallower, meaning you can get away with being simply very good at one aspect of fighting rather than all of them, as is usually the case in the high level male divisions. It's like the men's divisions ten years in the past.

I agree with you on the point about the talent pool. Like I said earlier in the thread, it gives Rousey more of an opportunity to shine. The problem for Ronda is this. There are a handful of badass women out there. Unless she gets fed a bunch of cans, which would be a shame, she'll be facing those badass women soon. The weight is not an issue. All the best competition is within reach of Ronda's weight. Most of them have already fought there. Which in my opinion means the Ronda Rousey hype train will reach the end of the tracks sooner rather than later. I don't know how good that opponent will have to be. I don't think Kaufman is the best in the world either. She may or may not be good enough. We'll see.

I do think people are drastically underestimating Kaufman's overall skillset. They make the argument that Ronda only needs about a teaspoon of striking ability to survive long enough to grapple. But Kaufman is a BJJ brown. Can the same not be said about her? Does a BJJ brown not give Kaufman more than a teaspoon of grappling ability? Doesn't she have the same chance of having it her way? I think so. Kaufman's grappling is a hell of a lot better than Rousey's striking.

Let's assume Kaufman's plan is to avoid grappling at all cost, maintain as much distance as possible, and disengage from the clinch/ground grapple at the first possible moment. You look at a BJJ brown with three times the fight experience as Rousey and say, "Nah, can't happen." I don't get that. I really don't.

And why would you assume Kaufman has to get a KO to win? You can't foresee a scenario where Kaufman would snipe Rousey, bust her up and win a decision? You can't foresee a scenario where Kaufman has a great first round, avoids Rousey's grappling, and hurts Rousey enough that her ability to get the throw/takedown in the later rounds is diminished?

**Devil** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 2:12pm

Originally Posted by Zerstörer90

Lol 1 has been by KO by punch (first pro fight), one by KO by slam (which was awesome), and the rest were TKO's (which she's only had one of since coming into the deeper talent pool of Strikeforce). She has been grinding out decision after decision since stepping up (other than the slam KO, which was awesome), and her only loss has been to *gasp* armbar

On the other hand, Rousey has finished all 3 of her opponents in Strikeforce in a total of just over six minutes. Whatever "holes" you thought you saw in Ronda's game, she has openly admitted are part of her "style", which she claims is to be more risk-taking and aggressive in order to be more exciting as a fighter and to finish fights (seems to be working too). She willingly gave up her back to tate multiple times, and pulled some flippy crazy **** that Tate did use to get back to the feet. If you remember, that fight ended with a Tsurikomi Goshi (correct me if i'm wrong about the throw, also i would like to iterate this was from standing) into a Juji-Gatame... It was not because Tate made "obvious mistakes in her gameplan". Give the Olympian some credit, it was because she was miles better on the ground and she was comfortable enough on the feet with Tate to let her get up. She did throw her 3 fuckin times in 1 round.

Also as Joe Rogan repeats incessantly whenever Josh Koshcheck is fighting "A fighter that is high level in one discipline can become high level in another".

I think it's a long shot possibility that Kaufman lands that "one shot", whereas I see Rousey having a very likely possibility of putting Kaufman on her back, mounting her, raining punches, and finishing her the same way she did Tate.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize TKOs were fake knockouts. I forgot they don't count. What was I thinking? A bunch of Junior dos Santos' knockouts are TKOs too. I guess the ref should just let them keep beating the **** out of an opponent who's down and out until their opponent is clearly unconscious so they can call it a KO instead of a TKO.

**Bneterasedmynam** · Posted On: 8/17/2012 2:18pm

Originally Posted by Devil

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize TKOs were fake knockouts. I forgot they don't count. What was I thinking? A bunch of Junior dos Santos' knockouts are TKOs too. I guess the ref should just let them keep beating the **** out of an opponent who's down and out until their opponent is clearly unconscious so they can call it a KO instead of a TKO.

Yes I would be ok with that.