Sarah Kaufman

Known for her strength and being one of the best punchers in Mixed Martial Arts, Sarah Kaufman never aspired to compete in combat sports. Before the native Canadian begun training in MMA, Kaufman was a dance student. An early interest in dancing would indirectly lead her to to compete in Mixed Martial Arts. At age 2 Kaufman started to train in dance and continued up until age 8 when she performed in musicals. In the year 2002 when she turned 17, Kaufman found out about Zuma Martial Arts gym beneath the dance studio where she took lessons. The gym run was by Adam Zugec who later became Kaufman's coach. Kaufman's first class at the gym was in Muay Thai, which she liked and took additional classes. In June 2006, Kaufman's first professional bout was in her home city of Vancouver, British Columbia at North American Challenge 23 where she fought fellow Canadian Elizabeth Posener. Kaufman won the fight by knocking out Posener in the 3rd round. In the following October and November, Kaufman had two bouts in King of the Cage (Canada). First, she easily defeated Sarah Draht in 17 seconds and a month after won by doctor stoppage at the end of the second round in her fight with Misty Shearer. She next fought in Ultimate Cage Wars where she beat Alexis Davis by 3rd round technical knockout. In her fifth bout, she took on Valerie Letourneau in the TKO Major League MMA promotion's first ever women's bout. Kaufman opened the round by connecting with punches and pushed Letourneau up against the fence, where Letourneau attempted a guillotine submission hold. Kaufman defended by bringing the fight to the ground, escaping the submission and dominating the ground action. The fighters were stood up and Kaufman landed some punches before Letourneau landed a left kick to her head which stunned her. Letourneau pounced and hit Kaufman with punches on the ground and attempted an arm-bar submission. Kaufman escaped and took the fight to the feet where she landed more punches to end the round. Kaufman out-struck Letourneau early in the 2nd round and landed punches at will until the referee intervened. Kaufman's next fought Ginele Marquez at Hardcore Fighting Championship's "Title Wave" event to inaugurate a women's champion in the bantamweight division. At the bout's onset, Marquez fell after trying to take Kaufman to the ground. Kaufman unleashed knees, punches, and adept take-down defenses. Kaufman exploited a failed take-down by hitting and further bloodying Marquez's face while on the ground. Marquez attempted a leg-lock submission which Kaufman escaped from and ended up on her back. Marquez tried more leg-locks and both fighters exchanged mutual foot/heel submission attempts until the round ended. On the feet in the 2nd round, Kaufman went to her strength and landed punches on Marquez, who tried for a haphazard take-down. Marquez tried another take-down which Kaufman blocked and was pushed to her back. Marquez did not land any strikes as she tried to control Kaufman. Kaufman got out from the bottom to reverse her opponent and landed several punches to win the fight by technical knockout and the championship. Kaufman would face Molly Helsel in her first championship defense. At the start of round one, Helsel rushed Kaufman and hit her with some punches until Kaufman clinched and reversed her against the cage and landed some knee strikes. Kaufman created distance and landed more knees and punches. Helsel initiated a clinch and was controlled by Kaufman against the cage, who then landed left punches to Helsel's body, face and knees to the thigh. Helsel ended up on her back after getting reversed when she tried to pull Kaufman to the ground. Kaufman stood and out-punched Helsel in the stand-up, controlled her against the fence and landed more punches to the face. Early in round two, Kaufman hit Helsel in the face with a right knee and connected with most of her punches while Helsel missed. Helsel clinched with Kaufman who controlled her against the fence and landed punches. Hesel put Kaufman in a headlock and tried a hip toss but again ended up on her back. Helsel attempted a leg-lock submission which Kaufman escaped from by punching her opponent's body. Kaufman stepped away and allowed the fight to resume on the feet where she regained control. She landed several punches to Helsel's bloodied face until the referee stepped in and declared a technical knockout win by Kaufman at 2:44. It turned out to be Kaufman's first title defense and final bout in Hardcore Championship Fighting as a result of the promotion's closure. Kaufman remained out of competition for a year, until Kim Couture withdrew from a Strikeforce Challengers 1 (2009) fight with Miesha Tate. Kaufman campaigned successfully to replace Couture. At the start of the fight scheduled for 3 rounds at 3 minutes each, Kaufman utilized her striking advantage and hit Tate with a barrage of punches, which Tate countered by using her wrestling to try to take Kaufman to the ground. Kaufman defended until Tate was successful near the end of the round. Kaufman landed more punches at the start of the second round, and Tate quickly took her to the ground. In a half-guard/semi-crucifix position from the top, Tate landed punches. From the bottom, Kaufman fought to free one of her hands from being trapped to defend again Tate's punches. As time ran out, Kaufman stood up and Tate took her back in an attempted submission. Kaufman was more aggressive with her punches at the start of the 3rd round and sprawled to counter the take-down attempts by Tate, who looked exhausted and bled from the face. During one successful take-down defense, Kaufman tossed Tate to the ground and landed more punches until the round expired. Kaufman won by unanimous decision. A month later Kaufman fought submission specialist Shayna Andrea Baszler at Strikeforce Challengers 2 (2009). The non-title women's bout was scheduled for 3 five-minute rounds. Baszler got an early trip on Kaufman and attempted a submission by a choke hold. Kaufman rolled to escape and ended up top, from where she landed punches to end the round. In the second round Baszler tried several trip attempts on Kaufman. Kaufman landed a hard right punch which appeared to hurt Baszler who reacted by stepping back for the rest of the round to avoid more punches. Kaufman ended up on top in the third after a failed take-down by Baszler. Kaufman stood up to allow the bout to be a stand up. Kaufman clinched and took Baszler down and controlled the action. At the audible urgings of her nearby coach, Josh Barnett, Baszler attempted a knee-bar submission which Kaufman survived until the end of the round. Kaufman won the unanimous decision. Kaufman fought Takayo Hashi at Strikeforce Challengers 6 (2010) to inaugurate Strikeforce's first women's welterweight champion in a division usually called "bantamweight". (The promotion abide by the MMA Unified Rules of Conduct which defined that category as welterweight for women.) Hashi, a grappling specialist, was true to her stated intentions and engaged with strikes on the feet with Kaufman. In the opening round, Hashi connected with a few leg kicks and a body kick which were outnumbered by Kaufman's punches which knocked down Hashi twice. Another fall happened when Kaufman held Hashi's right foot after a kick. Hashi tried a take-down near the end of the round which Kaufman defended. The fighters exchanged leg kicks in the second round, and Kaufman kept Hashi at a distance with frequent jabs, landed left hooks and leg kicks. Hashi landed a body kick in the 3rd round and punched Kaufman. Kaufman again held Hashi's after a kick and connected with punches. Takayo clinched with Kaufman and landed punches. Kaufman hit a hard right punch and more left jabs, followed by a right hand which put Hashi on the ground. Hashi stood and landed knee strikes, Kaufman punched some more and defended another take-down attempt by Hashi. Kaufman opened the 4th round with punches and Hashi tried for an early take-down. Kaufman defended the attempt and both fighters battled for position against the fence. Kaufman connected with jabs and sprawled to stop another take-down try by Hashi. The fighters again ended up against the cage where knee strikes were exchanged. Hashi tries for another take-down, and Kaufman pushes her on her back while defending. The start of the 4th round saw Kaufman land leg kicks and combinations of left jabs and left hooks. Again, Kaufman sprawled to defend a take-down attempt and Hashi ended up on her back. Kicks and punches were exchanged between the two and Hashi tried to pull Kaufman to the ground and go for an ankle submission. Kaufman quickly escaped and landed punches while Hashi was on the ground. Hashi stood up and landed a front kick to Kaufman's face. Hashi went for more take-downs which Kaufman avoided and the bout ended. Kaufman won all rounds unanimously and was crowned the Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Champion. Kaufman was criticized by some who felt she could have decisively ended the fight and not have it go to a decision. Roxanne Modafferi became Kaufman's first title challenger for the Strikeforce Women's Welterweight title. In interviews prior to Strikeforce Challengers 9 (2010), Kaufman was critical of the decision to book a title fight on the lesser profiled Strikeforce Challengers (2009), which she contended that title fights should be decided on higher profile cards. Her criticisms had a financial dimension because the value of sponsorships rely on the prominence the events. Modafferi started the bout and attempted to land two jumping knees which Kaufman avoided. While in a clinch they fought for dominance against the cage until Modafferi tripped Kaufman to the ground. From the bottom, Kaufman prevented Modafferi from landing any substantial strikes until they were stood up by the referee. With the distance created by the stand up, Kaufman landed a few punches until Modaferri closed the distance and resumed grappling against the cage. Modaferri attempted take-downs which were thwarted by Kaufman. At the start of the second round, Kaufman landed multiple punches and again avoided Modafferi attempts at taking her down. While fighting in close quarters, Kaufman connects with knees and punches. Modafferi initiated a leg trips but ended up on bottom. The fight returned to the feet where Kaufman landed more punches. Kaufman landed several punches at the start of the third round. Again, Modafferi close the gap and managed to trip her. While on the ground, Kaufman used her feet to keep Modafferi at bay and created enough room to stand up and land more punches while preventing further take-downs by Modaferri. They ended in a clinch against the cage, and Modaferri pulled Kaufman to the ground in her guard. From the bottom, Modafferi attempt submission holds until Kaufman hoisted her up and slammed her back to the ground to win by knockout and defended the championship remain undefeated in 12 professional fights. Kaufman's knockout slam victory received numerous praise and featured on the #4 spot on ESPN's SportsCenter (1979) "Plays of the Week" segment.