Counting Down to Kaufman vs. Modafferi - Final Chapter

Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce

Tonight, Sarah Kaufman will defend her Strikeforce belt against Roxanne Modafferi.  It's Kaufman's first title defense since winning it from Takayo Hashi earlier this year.  I've shown you some of these girls' fights this week, and now it's time to catch up on what's been happening with them in the days leading up to their bout in Everett, WA.

On Monday, I had wondered about the placement of a title fight on a Challengers card.  Especially when said title fight wasn't even the main event.  Well, turns out I'm not the only one.  A couple of days later, Sarah Kaufman posted this at www.prettytoughfighter.com:

"Cookies and Man Parts

…seem to be the 2 things that will get me on a main Strikeforce card…that and learning how to shake my assets
 I am currently the Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion…yet I fought for the title on a Challengers Card. Now, I am set to defend said title against Roxanne Modafferi in just a few days – again – on a Challengers Card.

I know that it’s going to be a fun and challenging fight…and I always welcome that. Roxanne has been around the sport for a long time and will come game to fight; however, I need to take this fight and make a statement.
That statement will be: I deserve to be on a main Strikeforce Card because I am a talented, exciting FEMALE fighter at 135lbs! I will NOT eat a ridiculous amount of cookies to make 145lbs JUST for the opportunity to be on a main card and growing man parts… well that would just be ridiculous :D"

So yesterday, mmafighting.com caught up with her and asked for some clarification, which Sarah seemed only to happy to give:

"I don't want it to be taken out of context," Kaufman told MMA Fighting when asked about the blog entry. "All I really meant is, for me, holding the [135-pound women's title], I'm the only title-holder that's fighting on the Challengers card. All the guys are fighting on the main cards for their titles, and [Cristiane] "Cyborg" [Santos] at 145 [pounds] is fighting on the main card for her title. That's my goal, to be fighting for a title on the main card."

And so, this is how Kaufman came to the conclusion that only cookies and man parts could help her. The 145-pound women's champ gets to defend her title in the big show, as do all the male champs (for the record, Kaufman clarified that she was in no way suggesting that Santos has man parts, though some people may have initially interpreted remarks that way), but the 135-pound women's champ gets treated like an afterthought for some reason."

So, the woman with the belt is not happy with being on a Challengers card.  And if she feels she has to prove herself tonight, then we're going to see an even better fight than we originally thought.  I'm fine with that. 

And to round off this week nicely, we have a great video shot by MMA Fighting's E. Casey Leydon of Roxanne and Sarah.  Note that this is only part 1 - keep an eye on www.mmafighting.com today for part 2!

Sarah Kaufman vs. Roxanne Modafferi Fight Journal: Part 1 (via ArielHelwani)

So there you have it, true believers.  Great fight coming up tonight for the Strikeforce women's welterweight championship.  I'll see you there! 

UPDATE: Part 2 of the fight journal has been completed, so I thought I'd go ahead and add it here.  Great stuff, enjoy!!

  ArielHelwani)

Sarah Kaufman vs. Roxanne Modafferi Fight Journal: Part 2 (via