Rousey vs. Tate: Sarah Kaufman Says She Wanted UFC Call for TUF 18 Coaching Spot
Although former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate is coming off a loss in her UFC debut, "Cupcake" will nonetheless be the next challenger to face Ronda Rousey.
But was Rousey vs. Tate the best option?
Sarah Kaufman doesn't seem to think so, and the Canadian fighter had something to say about it on Twitter, expressing shock at the announcement:
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"So much news came out while I was teaching at #zuma tonight. Zingano out. Tate in vs rousey in #tuf18 house...WOW. Would've liked the callย โ Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) May 29, 2013
"
As noted in a surprise twist of fate on Tuesday (via UFC Tonight), Cat Zinganoโthe original No. 1 contender for the UFC women's bantamweight titleโhad been pulled fromย Season 18 ofย The Ultimate Fighterย due to an injured knee suffered in training.
With Zingano out, the UFC went to their back-up plan, drafting Tate as a last-minute replacement to coach opposite Rousey.
Tate's presence on the show will revive a long-standing rivalry between herself and Rousey, with the added benefit of some valuable UFC star-treatment viaย Fox Sports and an assumed main event spotlight on a future pay-per-event.
However, Tate is also coming off a brutal TKO loss at the hands of Zingano, whereas Kaufman is coming off a "Fight of the Night" victory from her last bout at Invicta FC 5 last.
According to the official UFC rankings, Kaufman (No. 2) also outranks Tate (No. 3) in the women's bantamweight division, although the difference between the two likely comes down to star power and their relative performances against Rousey.
To date, "Cupcake" Tate is still the only fighter to ever escape one of Rousey's patented armbar submissions, being the only woman (at the time) to drag the champion past the four-minute mark of the first round.
Kaufman, however, didn't perform nearly as well against "Rowdy".
Just like fellow Strikeforce veteransย Sarah D'alelio and Julia Budd, the normally submission-savvy Kaufman got caught by the former Olympian in just under a minute, tapping out to the champion's dangerous armbar in a 54-second rout.
McKinley Nobleย is anย MMAย conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared inย NVision,ย PC World,ย Macworld,ย GamePro,ย 1UP,ย MMA Mania andย The L.A. Times.
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