More from Kaufman on Her Division’s Future & Doing Her Part for Women’s MMA
Lutfi Sariahmed Feb 26, 2010
More from Sherdog.com's interview with Sarah
Kaufman:
Sherdog: Has Strikeforce told you any of their plans for the women's welterweight division?
Sarah Kaufman: “Honestly, I don't personally talk to them. I leave that to my coach and manager Adam Zugec. I'm not sure if they said anything to him regarding that. For me, it's really just important on staying focused on this fight in particular. Obviously I love staying active, so whatever they bring forward for the next fight is great. I've heard the rumor that the winner of the Miesha Tate-Zoila Frausto fight is a possible contender fight. So maybe they have that fight. There's the rumor of the tournament as well. Really whatever happens with the division I'm just happy that they're giving attention to it and there are going to be those fights and those contender fights lined up and there isn't going to be such a long layoff in between.
Sherdog: What did you do during the layoff?
Kaufman: “I like to stay in shape. I like to train all the time anyway just not fight training for the most part. But then as this fight has been delayed a few times, I really have trained for this bout three or four times now. I've been busy doing pre-fight training in case I was fighting and then just trying to improve in all the areas that I have to work on which I think I can improve everywhere.”
On training for a specific opponent as opposed to not knowing:
Kaufman: “For me, I don't think it matters so much who I'm going to fight as the fact that I know I have someone to fight. I think that's the big difference there. I've had fights where I've trained up to three or four days before the fight not knowing who the opponent was. It's a challenge mostly because you wonder, especially for females, as it gets closer are you really going to find someone for me to fight? It's disappointing when you do all that training and it falls through. It happens. It's part of the fight game. So it's nice when you have that opponent. It just solidifies a little bit more I think. It makes it more focused in your training.
Sherdog: What can Strikeforce do to improve as it pertains to matchmaking?
Kaufman: “Going from a smaller regional organization that Strikeforce was for the past 10 to 15 years into this bigger force that they're trying to create is a big learning curve. It's a pretty steep learning curve. I think they're just starting to figure that out now trying to get the shows organized well in advance, trying to get their roster just sorted out in terms of when they're going to get people fighting, how active they're going to be. It's all a process. Hopefully this year is a great year for them. They've already had their January card and they have a February card. They have a March card planned and an April card. So I think they're starting to get a little bit more organized in that sense. Maybe they need more people on staff? I'm not quite sure. You can't plan an event, when it's a big event, five or six weeks out. You need to start planning eight to ten weeks out I would think so that you have that when you're at a fight you're not worried about the next one already because it's not planned yet.”
On her role in making women's MMA bigger:
Kaufman: “It's always hard, especially being in Canada. I think it's probably easier with Gina (Carano) being in Las Vegas, a little closer in proximity. Cyborg's now in California as well. Pretty much I'm open to doing anything I can to help promote the sport of MMA in general, especially the female side of it. Everyone has different things that they're going to do. “American Gladiators” picked up Gina (Carano), which obviously had a huge public push for her. Now she's doing movies and that type of thing. I don't know if I'd go to that extreme, but in terms of doing interviews and photo shoots I'm totally open to anything like that - obviously with restrictions on what's actually happening. But whatever I can do to help the sport is great.”
Sherdog: Has Strikeforce told you any of their plans for the women's welterweight division?
Sarah Kaufman: “Honestly, I don't personally talk to them. I leave that to my coach and manager Adam Zugec. I'm not sure if they said anything to him regarding that. For me, it's really just important on staying focused on this fight in particular. Obviously I love staying active, so whatever they bring forward for the next fight is great. I've heard the rumor that the winner of the Miesha Tate-Zoila Frausto fight is a possible contender fight. So maybe they have that fight. There's the rumor of the tournament as well. Really whatever happens with the division I'm just happy that they're giving attention to it and there are going to be those fights and those contender fights lined up and there isn't going to be such a long layoff in between.
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Kaufman: “I like to stay in shape. I like to train all the time anyway just not fight training for the most part. But then as this fight has been delayed a few times, I really have trained for this bout three or four times now. I've been busy doing pre-fight training in case I was fighting and then just trying to improve in all the areas that I have to work on which I think I can improve everywhere.”
On training for a specific opponent as opposed to not knowing:
Kaufman: “For me, I don't think it matters so much who I'm going to fight as the fact that I know I have someone to fight. I think that's the big difference there. I've had fights where I've trained up to three or four days before the fight not knowing who the opponent was. It's a challenge mostly because you wonder, especially for females, as it gets closer are you really going to find someone for me to fight? It's disappointing when you do all that training and it falls through. It happens. It's part of the fight game. So it's nice when you have that opponent. It just solidifies a little bit more I think. It makes it more focused in your training.
Sherdog: What can Strikeforce do to improve as it pertains to matchmaking?
Kaufman: “Going from a smaller regional organization that Strikeforce was for the past 10 to 15 years into this bigger force that they're trying to create is a big learning curve. It's a pretty steep learning curve. I think they're just starting to figure that out now trying to get the shows organized well in advance, trying to get their roster just sorted out in terms of when they're going to get people fighting, how active they're going to be. It's all a process. Hopefully this year is a great year for them. They've already had their January card and they have a February card. They have a March card planned and an April card. So I think they're starting to get a little bit more organized in that sense. Maybe they need more people on staff? I'm not quite sure. You can't plan an event, when it's a big event, five or six weeks out. You need to start planning eight to ten weeks out I would think so that you have that when you're at a fight you're not worried about the next one already because it's not planned yet.”
On her role in making women's MMA bigger:
Kaufman: “It's always hard, especially being in Canada. I think it's probably easier with Gina (Carano) being in Las Vegas, a little closer in proximity. Cyborg's now in California as well. Pretty much I'm open to doing anything I can to help promote the sport of MMA in general, especially the female side of it. Everyone has different things that they're going to do. “American Gladiators” picked up Gina (Carano), which obviously had a huge public push for her. Now she's doing movies and that type of thing. I don't know if I'd go to that extreme, but in terms of doing interviews and photo shoots I'm totally open to anything like that - obviously with restrictions on what's actually happening. But whatever I can do to help the sport is great.”
