Very few people expected Sarah Kaufman to leave the cage with the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title Saturday night, since she was taking on the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of a champion; Ronda Rousey.
The rowdy one made sure she lived up to her reputation, securing her signature armbar submission a mere 54 seconds into the fight. Kaufman tapped out, looking every bit as helpless as the first four opponents Rousey submitted before winning the title.
In six professional fights, Rousey is yet to go past the first round or finish with anything besides an armbar. The former Olympic Judoka bronze medalist has actually only went outside the first minute when she defeated Miesha Tate for the title in March.
This is why it is particularly compelling that Rousey called out former Strikeforce featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos after her first title defense.
Santos, who has long been accused of using performance enhancing drugs in her career, failed a drug test for the first time in December. She tested positive for the steroid Stanozolol, earning her a one-year suspension from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
With that in mind, why does Rousey want to fight "Cyborg?" Perhaps more importantly, why should the casual fan care about this potential super fight?
The answer is because "Cyborg" was the most dominant women’s champion before Rousey was in town. After losing in her professional debut in April 2005, Santos rattled off 10 straight wins, winning Strikeforce gold in the process before her run-in with the CSAC. Also, consider Rousey’s good looks and Cyborg’s … incredibly well-muscled physique and the fight basically hypes itself. Not that it would have to.
Rousey and "Cyborg" legitimately don’t like each other and have already begun to talk trash to one another, even though Santos is still suspended until December. Imagine the magnitude of verbal venom that will occur once this fight is signed.
Here’s hoping this fight happening sometime early next year. Would it be too much to ask that this one lasts for more than one minute?