Sarah Kaufman Wants To Do More Than Just Defend Her Title

In the ninth show in the Strikeforce: Challengers Series , Women's Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman takes on Roxanne Modafferi in the co-main event live on Showtime at the Comcast Arena in Everett, Washington on July 23.  

Kaufman won her Welterweight title via unanimous decision against Takayo Hashi back in February in a less than entertaining affair.  To her credit, the hard-hitting Kaufman had an opponent in front of her that was more-so looking to survive the five rounds than turn in a championship winning performance.

The Champion had this to say about her Strikeforce: Challengers 6  bout: "I felt really good going five rounds for the first time.  Honestly I felt like I could have gone another 10 rounds afterwards, which is good and bad."

She also stated, "Sometimes you want more from a fight and Hashi seemed reluctant to engage.  I wanted to be able to give the fans a good show.  That's what they come to see."

Truth be told, Kaufman may have actually found herself in a tougher spot in the weeks after the fight than she did during any of the five rounds.  She was quoted in an interview as saying that she was no longer under contract with Strikeforce.  

The organization that crowned her as the Welterweight Champion quickly countered that she was mistaken, and indeed still under contract with the company.

"It was just one of those things where there could have been more communication between the two sides.  But the fact is that I'm glad I'm still a part of Strikeforce.  I'm really happy with them and it's where I hope to stay in the future," stated Kaufman in a recent interview with Bleacher Report .

With a bittersweet title win, and all contractual confusion behind her she set her sights on simply getting back to the gym and doing what she loves to do most.

"Training camp went really well.  I'm feeling strong and the weight is good. I've actually got three training partners with me who will be fighting on Saturday,and it was nice to see all of us coming along at the same time.  

"We didn't really break from the usual camp for Modafferi.  We stuck to the same game-plan and worked on transitions and stuff like that," Kaufman elaborated.

For Kaufman, come fight night the game-plan is usually to go in there and knock her opponent out which is exactly what she has done in eight of her 11 wins.  

While it didn't quite work out that way in her last bout with Hashi, she expects Modafferi to be a little bit more accommodating. 

"I fully expect it to be different this time around. She has a different style. I expect Roxanne to come and fight.  She has said that her plan is to stand and bang and that's exactly what I'll be doing."

Kaufman added, "It's what I want to see and it's what the fans want to see.I really don't see this fight going the full five rounds.  I've got to get back to my streak of knocking people out."

Like she said before, it's what the fans want to see.  And the more you hear Kaufman speak the more it becomes clear that impressing the fans is what she's all about.

"As long as I've been doing this I wanted to become a champion.  It really means a lot.  But really winning the championship was just another fight, and I want to win every fight.  I'm not just fighting for a championship, I'm fighting not to lose.  

The Victoria, British Columbia native went on to finished up by saying, "I'm trying to win and I'm trying to make it exciting.  It's really important for me show the fans in the audience as well as the ones watching on Showtime that I have the ability to finish fights, and not in a sloppy way.  I want to finish fights and look good technically doing it."

Come Friday, July 23, Sarah Kaufman won't just be trying to keep Roxanne Modafferi from stealing her title.

She'll be trying to steal the show as well.

More information on Sarah Kaufman can be found at SarahKaufman.ca .

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