The trouble with being Sarah Kaufman in a Ronda Rousey world
The trouble with being Sarah Kaufman in a Ronda Rousey world
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If you were going to trade places with any female fighter, you probably would choose Ronda Rousey.
Let's just be honest here. Not only is Rousey the current Strikeforce 135-pound women's champ, but she's also an Olympic medalist who's barreling down the path toward fame and fortune, with her winning smile and her flowing blond locks showing up everywhere from TMZ to a opening-bell photo op at the New York Stock Exchange.
You probably would not choose to be Sarah Kaufman, and I don't blame you.
That's not because Kaufman isn't a good fighter (she's an excellent one) or a good person (she's an awesome one). But, if we're looking at the cold hard facts, she's probably never going to get rich at this MMA stuff, and she has about as much chance as gracing the cover of "ESPN the Magazine" as she does of being elected Prime Minister.
She knows it, too. She also knows why Rousey, whom she faces in the main event of Saturday night's "Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman" event on Showtime (and on Super Channel in Kaufman's home country of Canada), has more money and more fame. She knows that, financially, she could benefit from acting a little more like Rousey – an outspoken figure who conducts herself as if the worst thing someone could think about her is nothing at all – and a little less like, well, herself. But, even knowing this, she's not going to do it. Contrary to what you might think, it's not because she doesn't care about the money.
Apparently she doesn't love it enough. If she did, she might have done more to sell this fight, to follow the blueprint that was laid out for her by the Rousey-Miesha Tate fight earlier this year. But she hasn't. That's because, as Kaufman put it, she's "a purist."
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She became a fighter because she liked fighting – not because she wanted to be a celebrity.
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"I think it's pretty clear that Zuffa and Dana White especially, they love Ronda," Kaufman said. "She's on the edge. She's not the typical pretty girl because she kind of has a mouth on her and she'll say stuff that's inappropriate. Dana kind of likes that. He likes someone who's really going to make waves, regardless of whether they're good or bad. ... It makes Dana's job easier and Zuffa's job easier if she's making people write headlines about her, so of course Dana likes Ronda."
Kaufman, on the other hand? Without her hands wrapped and her hair in braids, it's questionable whether White would even be able to pick her out of a lineup. No matter what she does, she's probably never going to be that superstar fighter. She could throttle Rousey in the first round, and it still wouldn't guarantee her a spot on "Conan." That's just the way it is in women's MMA right now, and Kaufman knows it. That it hasn't changed anything about her approach to this fight or her career in general is, depending on your perspective, either very admirable or very financially unsound. It also might not be a choice because when it comes to certain personality traits, you have to go with whatever you've got. Fortunately, the stuff Kaufman doesn't have might be offset in this fight by the stuff she does. Sounds weird, I know, but allow me to explain.
If you ask Kaufman, she'll tell you that the big mistake Tate made was letting Rousey inside her head. She got mad and she fought mad, Kaufman said, which only made it easier for Rousey to do exactly what she wanted to do, both as a fighter and as a public personality.
"If Miesha hadn't played along with that, Ronda wouldn't be nearly as big as she is now," Kaufman said. "That took two people. Miesha played perfectly into what Ronda was trying to accomplish. [Rousey] got into Miesha's head, and that went a long way toward making her the sensation that she is now."
It also helped that Rousey managed to snag Tate in her signature submission – the armbar. But the fact Tate refused to tap to it in a timely fashion, either due to pride or rage or some combination of the two, only furthered Rousey's fame. The gruesome image of her turning Tate's arm into a twist-tie garnered far more attention than your basic armbar followed by a simple tap or two would have. By refusing to give in, Tate only aided her rival's rise to prominence, according to Kaufman. She also paid a heavy price for the privilege, which is something a thoroughly reasonable Canadian like Kaufman still can't understand.
"I thought it was ridiculous," Kaufman said of that finish. "It's a fight. If you're caught in something, you're caught. Don't let it damage the rest of your career. Miesha can say her arm is fine and healthy, but it's never going to be the same."
I don't watch WMMA (Only fight I watched was Rousey/Tate) so I don't know how much of an upset it would be (I assume it would br pretty huge??)
But God damn, it would be pretty funny to see Kaufman KO Rousey and just absolutely derail everyone's plan to have a good looking Rhonda Rousey be a champion and sell womens MMA
But God damn, it would be pretty funny to see Kaufman KO Rousey and just absolutely derail everyone's plan to have a good looking Rhonda Rousey be a champion and sell womens MMA
You never know, Sarah sure put a quick end to Roxy's attempt at an arm bar...
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Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
*Someone needs to track down the boob shot Ronda was freaking out about.. Gotta be out there.. I am at work so not gonna be me; last thing I need to google is Ronda Rousey titty shot.
And incase y'all missed the first episode:
__________________
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
*Someone needs to track down the boob shot Ronda was freaking out about.. Gotta be out there.. I am at work so not gonna be me; last thing I need to google is Ronda Rousey titty shot.
I don't care enough what her aerolas look like to do so.
Plus there's kids in the room.
I guess I would search if they weren't sitting next to me.
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Originally Posted by Cat--Smasher
You never know, Sarah sure put a quick end to Roxy's attempt at an arm bar...
I don't watch WMMA (Only fight I watched was Rousey/Tate) so I don't know how much of an upset it would be (I assume it would br pretty huge??)
But God damn, it would be pretty funny to see Kaufman KO Rousey and just absolutely derail everyone's plan to have a good looking Rhonda Rousey be a champion and sell womens MMA
Rousey has a massive hype train behind her. While it would be a major upset in that sense... it wouldn't particularly be a massive upset considering Kaufman's career.
The trouble with being Sarah Kaufman in a Ronda Rousey world 
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