Strikeforce champ Ronda Rousey wants 'Cyborg' next, but adamant she drop to 135
Strikeforce champ Ronda Rousey wants 'Cyborg' next, but adamant she drop to 135
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Rousey had been in a relatively new war of words with Santos even before the Kaufman fight. And now that she has cleared her latest hurdle, Rousey wasted no time setting her sights on the Brazilian.
The first problem is that Santos (10-1 MMA, 4-0 SF), the former Strikeforce featherweight titleholder, currently is suspended after testing positive for steroids following a 16-second win over Hiroko Yamanaka this past December. (The fight was overturned to a no contest.) The yearlong shutdown means a potential Rousey-Santos fight is at least four months away, provided Santos gets re-licensed with no delays.
And the second is that Santos has been less than thrilled about the prospect of dropping from 145 to 135, where Rousey now holds the title. That, Rousey said, is too bad.
"She was champion and I knew she was doping, but I couldn't prove it," Rousey said at Saturday's post-event news conference at the Valley View Casino Center. "That was how she wanted to become a champion. Now the situation is changed, and she was stripped of her title for good reason. Now she has to come to me – I don't owe her anything. She needs to fight me more than I need to fight her. There are plenty of girls – they all want to beat me up now. Who else is she going to fight, really? She needs to come to me."
Rousey called out Santos in her post-fight interview with Mauro Ranallo on the Showtime broadcast and is firm in her belief that the former champ should have to make the move to 135 if she wants the fight.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker sounds like he would love to see a Rousey-Santos fight – but knows it's a pipe dream until Santos' suspension is lifted.
Coker also believes when the fight does happen, it's destined to become the new high-water mark for a Showtime MMA broadcast.
"I think records are meant to be broken," Coker said. "The Cyborg fight (with Gina Carano) was the highest-rated MMA program on Showtime – for two years, it held the record. Once we get (the Rousey-Santos fight) together, I believe that fight will break the past record."
'Embarrassed' Sarah Kaufman wants to work way back, believes she can beat Rousey
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Things most definitely did not go the way Sarah Kaufman had planned them to go on Saturday night.
Sure, the result of her title fight against Ronda Rousey should be no surprise to anyone. But Kaufman was hoping she could put an end to Rousey's perfect record of first-round armbars on the way to winning back the title she held two years ago.
That didn't happen. Rousey (6-0 MMA, 4-0 SF) made quick work of Kaufman (15-2 MMA, 6-2 SF), tapping her with an armbar in 54 seconds in the main event of "Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman" in San Diego.
The result at Valley View Casino Center, which was broadcast on Showtime, had Kaufman plenty displeased – but already looking to rebound from the loss
"I'm extremely embarrassed by my performance," Kaufman told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com). "I knew Ronda coming in was a world-class athlete and a world-class judo player. I didn't underestimate her at all – I knew she was going to be a tough fight. I'm embarrassed I wasn't able to do what I wanted to do and land the strikes I wanted to land."
Kaufman said she hopes Strikeforce matchmaker Sean Shelby, as well as CEO Scott Coker, can put something together for her to get back quickly – and start building her way back to a title fight
"I want to fight tomorrow – I'm ready to go," Kaufman said. "I want to fight again. I know I can win that fight. Ronda fought an amazing fight tonight – really smart – and clearly got the win. I can't take anything away from her. I want to earn my way back. I was champion before, and I know I'm going to be champion again.
Cris Cyborg: 145 div is gone, tchau. Strikeforce: No it isn't
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The sport immediately turned to thoughts of a superfight between Rousey and Cris 'Cyborg' Santos, who is suspended for PEDs until December.
"I need to send out a challenge to Miss Cyborg out there," screamed Rousey immediately post fight from inside the cage. "People want to see the first fair fight of your life. I'm the champ now. The champ doesn't go to you, you go to the champ. Come down to 135 and let's settle this."
At the post fight press con, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker described the fight should it come together as “one of the biggest fights in the history of mixed martial arts.”
Curiously, the other half of the superfight, Cris 'Cyborg' Santos, was tweeting from cageside that she was waiting release from the organization.
Some of the puzzling tweets have since been deleted.
Cris Cyborg @criscyborg
Do not stay sad. God knows all things. Surely at some event that will fight Have my category.
I'm waiting for my liberation from the UFC..
Luke Thomas @SBNLukeThomas
Cyborg is running her Tweets through Google Translator and publishing them verbatim. Would a Portuguese speaker kindly translate them?
17mDaniel Vaz @VazDaniel
"Guys, I'm afraid that fight is not happening. My division no longer exists. I'm waiting to be released from the UFC."
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Despite rumors that the Strikeforce 145 lb. women's featherweight division was going to be shelved, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said the tweets were without merit.
“She must be misinformed,” Coker told MMAWeekly.com’s Erik Fontanez. “I don’t understand why she’d be saying that since we just had a 145-pound fight on the card tonight.” (Hiroko Yamanaka vs. Germaine de Randamie).
Whatever her strengths and weaknesses, Cris Cyborg is a professional fighter. It seems hugely unlikely she is tucking her tail and running from Rousey.
Maybe she feels disrespected?
She later tweeted, "A fight with anyone, anywhere. So I want to be respected as everyone wants to be."
I think she's scared to fight without her juice. Rousey would rip her arm apart just like everyome else she has faced. I doubt Santos would drop down to 135 but I would lobe to see it
Strikeforce champ Ronda Rousey wants 'Cyborg' next, but adamant she drop to 135 
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